The National Landlords Association has accused the Citizens Advice report of using “loose definitions to compound a perception that private housing is insecure and unsuitable across the board” ignoring the weight of evidence to the contrary.

“The English Housing Survey finds that the average tenancy now lasts just shy of four years, and that only seven per cent of tenancies are ended by landlords. Our own research shows that 86 per cent of families consider their properties as their ‘home’ and that 62 per cent do not see renting as a barrier to family life” says Richard Lambert, NLA chief executive officer.

“Furthermore just 0.5 per cent of families who rent privately say they’ve had to move because their landlord increased their rent” he says.

The NLA believes this shows that the private rental sector is nothing like Citizens Advice’s assertion of a market that is “failing systematically to deliver what consumers want.” 

Lambert says that those who suffer at the hands of the criminal and negligent minority do so because of widespread failure of local councils to commit resources to enforcing the laws that already exist against poor landlords and criminal standards, and because of the failure of successive governments to incentivise the building of much needed homes that would relieve the pressure on the whole housing market.

You can see details of the CA report here.