The National Residential Landlords Association has accused the main political parties of failing to come up with solutions to the shortage of homes for private rent.
The landlord group said this shortage was the main reason rents have continued to rise so sharply across the market.
Rents increased by 6.6% in the year to April, Zoopla analysis shows, while there are 15 renters chasing each available property.
Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said: “Renters are being let down by a repeated failure to address the rental housing supply crisis.
“The lack of choice serves only to drive up rents and, given the shortage of alternative accommodation for them to move to, makes it harder for renters to hold rogue and criminal landlords to account.”
Instead of focusing on supply, the NRLA seems frustrated that so much focus is being placed on ending Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, with the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats and the Green Party all putting such measures in their manifestos.
Beadle added: “We will work with the next government to ensure the replacement for section 21 works for the sector as a whole.
“However, greater security for renters will mean nothing if they cannot find homes to rent in the first place.”
Savills has warned that up to one million new homes for private rent will be needed across England and Wales by 2031 in order to meet demand.
The NRLA urged that when Section 21 repossessions end, they need be replaced with a system which makes good on the Shadow Housing Minister’s belief that: “Landlords need robust grounds for possessions in legitimate circumstances, and they need the system to operate quickly when they do.”
The landlord group also called for the 3% stamp duty surcharge on second home purchases to be scrapped.
If that happened financial consultancy Capital Economics estimated that we would see almost 900,000 new long-term homes to rent being made available over the next decade.
