Labour's proposal to introduce an annual indexation of rents will leave more tenants out of pocket and will ironically encourage a culture of regular rental increases, according to the National Landlords Association.
Research commissioned by the NLA reveals that many landlords are choosing not to raise their rents despite local market rates increasing over the past year.
Forty five per cent of landlords say that rents have risen in their local area over the past 12 months, yet just a third have raised rents during that period. Fewer still - 28 per cent - say they plan to raise rents over the coming months.
The findings also show that the majority of landlords raise rents between tenancies rather than on existing tenants. Of those landlords that increased their rents in the past year, 60 per cent did so only when letting to new tenants, rather than on existing tenancies. Fewer than 30 per cent admitted to raising rents regularly or as part of a scheduled annual increase.
Our primary concern is that a system of rent indexations - as proposed by Labour - will only serve to encourage a culture of regular rental increases by providing the basis to legitimately escalate rents on a regular and sustainable basis says Carolyn Uphill, chair of the NLA.
Labour has targeted the UK's nine million or so renters as they recognise that they will play a major part in deciding outcome of next year's general election. However, it's painfully evident that they've given no thought to the potential impact of their proposals and tenants should be aware that, sadly, this aspect will leave them worse off she says.
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