06-05-2008
NLA warns against US-style rental model
News by Adfero for Simply Business - independent providers of public liability insurance, business finance, landlord insurance, buy-to-let mortgages & commercial mortgages.
A UK representative body for landlords has warned that an institutionalised rental market could leave vulnerable members of society homeless.
The National Landlords Association (NLA) believes modelling the UK rental sector on large-scale US models will lead to a market unable to reflect the differing needs and budgets of future tenants.
Chairman of the NLA David Salusbury commented: "We should be wary of calls to mirror the US housing market here in the UK, especially since there are few similarities and the US housing market is suffering considerably."
He added that there is no evidence that companies providing large-scale rental services will be obliged to develop housing for low-income families, meaning most will focus on high-profit developments to maximise profits.
Recent figures from the government's mydeposits.co.uk scheme - which provides a third-party holding service for security deposits - have shown that 86 per cent of tenants using the scheme receive part or all of their money back.