The Bank of England has joined the chorus of voices highlighting the worsening problem of landlords leaving the sector.

Its findings in the latest Monetary Policy Report offer yet more proof that government tax and other policies are forcing out investors; it says demand for rental properties continues to outstrip supply as the number of landlords choosing to exit the market has increased.

It adds: “Contacts attributed this to a combination of factors including tax and regulation, higher maintenance and borrowing costs, and an inability to recoup increased costs in rents.”

Research by Savills backs this up, according to residential research analyst Sophie Tonge, who reports that an increasing number of landlords decided to exit when the sales market was particularly hot, to realise the capital growth.

“Imbalance in supply and demand has seen rents grow at a really strong pace, in Bristol they’ve grown by 11% in the past year alone,” she explains.

“More first-time buyers are staying in the PRS as there are fewer homes for sale – in the BS34 area, the number of private rental households has gone up by 48% between 2011-2019.”

Savills says this has resulted in the number of available properties to rent in Q4 2002 falling across the UK compared to 2017-2019 and was particularly noticeable in Newcastle (-64%), Cardiff (-38%) and London (-37%).

MP backs calls

Landlord Action’s Paul Shamplina says that in all his years of being involved in the letting sector, he’s never seen so many landlords exiting the market.

He recently met his local MP Theresa Villiers who promised to press home the message that landlords should no longer be demonised, during parliamentary questions.

Says Paul: “Our local MPs need educating on what’s happening on the ground. My message to landlords and letting agents is yes things are tough, moaning gets you nowhere, take some action and engage with your local MP.”