Some 79 per cent of landlords are only servicing the interest on their mortgages, not paying down their loans, according to the National Landlords Association. 

This statistic has prompted the NLA to examine the narrative that tenants are just paying off their landlord’s mortgage . 

In a discussion paper the NLA and PricedOut – the campaign for affordable housing – have looked at both sides of the argument.

The NLA holds that there are many costs to running a successful lettings business that tenants are either unaware of or don’t consider in this debate.

“There are myriad costs to running a letting business, including maintenance, repairs and upgrades, licensing, and insurance. Rents have to cover all these costs, as well as the interest on a mortgage, where there is one” explains Richard Lambert, the NLA chief executive. 

“Housing is expensive for everyone at present. The government needs to encourage the supply of housing in all tenures, including the private rented sector” he says.

The NLA, in the discussion paper, recommends the government:

– allows more time for existing policies to bed in (at least five years), and evaluate their effectiveness, before new policies and regulations are made;

– encourages the building of more housing of all tenures by simplifying planning and borrowing rules;

– stops taxing professional landlords out of the market. “The loss of good landlords will not make renting more affordable; it will simply drive up the cost for those who want to access decent rented homes” it says.