Politicians must take further action to boost housing supply in the private rented sector by encouraging more landlords to join and invest after a reduction in the number of landlords in Wales.  

Fresh data from regulatory body Rent Smart Wales found that of the 22 local authorities in Wales, 17 have witnessed a decrease in the number of landlords during the period between January 2020 to January 2025. Overall, during the same five-year period, the private rental sector has seen a reduction of 1,107 landlords, which coincided with the enactment of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act.    

The trade body for professional property agents recently responded to the Welsh Parliament (Senedd) Finance Committee’s draft budget consultation calling for measures to stimulate supply in the private rented sector. Instead, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Mark Drakeford, announced a one per cent increase across all bands for Land Transaction Tax when purchasing an additional property in Wales.   

In response to an inquiry into the private rented sector from the Senedd’s Local Government and Housing Committee, the Welsh Government stated that it would back the choice of enabling renters the chance to keep the last two months of their rent as compensation when experiencing a no-fault eviction. 

Propertymark says it’s consistently stated that implementing additional financial penalties for landlords is counterproductive when they are already witnessing substantial increases in tax hikes, mortgage rates, and repair costs, as this could further thwart the supply of rental homes, and therefore, cause rents to increase. 

Therefore, Propertymark suggests that boosting supply is the most effective way to even out rents and stop additional market distortions.    

Propertymark has been a member of the Welsh Government Fair Rents and Adequate Housing Stakeholder Group, where they argued against rent controls, and thanks to their consistent lobbying on this policy, rent controls have not featured in the ‘White Paper on Adequate Housing, Fair Rents and Affordability’. 

The professional body added that the recent data from Rent Smart Wales demonstrating the number of landlords leaving the sector shows that rent controls if implemented, would have made this problem worse.     

Tim Thomas, policy and campaigns officer at Propertymark, says:  “Propertymark has been supportive of the Welsh Government’s aims in regulating the private rented sector to make it fairer for all. However, there must be a balance, otherwise good responsible landlords will exit the market and those that remain will be forced to increase rents to cover their escalating costs.  

“The shrinkage of the private rented sector, as proven by this recent Rent Smart Wales data, shows that the Welsh Government must strongly consider the impact future legislation will have on the sector. Given these concerning figures from across most Welsh communities, the Welsh Government must follow our call for pro-growth taxation and reduce Land Transaction Tax for landlord investors.”