CBRE has launched a pretty damning analysis of the private rented sector, which it says shows that - at the current rate of disposals - there will be 10% fewer properties for rent by the end of 2023 than there were in 2016.
Separately, a report from a wealth management firm, Quilter, uses analysis of the Government's own Capital Gains Tax data to show that a steep increase in total CGT liability to £1.8Bn last year. They put this down to "the tightening of tax laws on buy-to-lets make them a more unattractive investment."
This is a genuine problem. There have been 15 different UK Housing Ministers since 2010 - and the word is that there's going to be another shakeup in that Department soon. It beggars belief that something so critical to the wellbeing of so many families - a decent place to rent - is withering at pace, more by casual accident than any strategic design.
There needs to be a genuine attempt to look at housing provision in this country across all sectors, so that rental and sale prices stabilise through a better match of supply to demand. The first place to start is by having some stability in the Housing Department. With a General Election due in the next 18 months and a likely new Labour Government taking the reins, it remains to be seen whether they allocate suitable importance to this critical part of the country's economy (and its citizens' wellbeing).
It's fair to say that it would be very hard for them to do any worse ...
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