As each month goes by, the supply crisis affecting the Private Rental Sector (PRS) increases, with demand from tenants consistently rising and inevitably so are average rents. On page 15 our lead article addresses many of the reasons as to why this situation is occurring and poses the obvious question as to why any landlord would want to exit from their property investments.

Of course, we know only too well that successive governments in the last ten years have seen fit to focus on deterring individuals from investing in the PRS, through increased taxation and more burdensome regulations. Without question the quality of some rental stock and management standards by landlords and their agents left much to be desired, but enforcement by local councils on existing regulation has often been inadequate.

Just as we go to press the details within the long awaited Renters Reform Bill are to be revealed, and in the June edition we will be looking at the implications arising, which will inevitably have consequences, some perhaps unintentional. Given the supply crisis of rental stock in many regions, I am hoping that the government has taken note of all the warnings that the NRLA, along with others have given or the situation with supply shortages could well go from ‘bad to much worse’.