Articles by Nick Clay
Research Webinar - October 2021
These are the slides from the NRLA's research webinar hosted in October 2021. Topics covered in this webinar included the sustained increase in tenant demand and landlords' increasing levels of confidence. Other topics covered include: Universal Credit; Energy Efficiency and tax issues. There is also a review of what rising inflation may mean for landlords.
YouGov landlord survey - landlords take a hit
In December 2021 YouGov undertook an online survey of landlords. The survey is not of NRLA members but of the wider private landlord community (about 10% of all those surveyed were NRLA members). The survey identifies how landlords have responded to the challenges of the last few years, and the confidence with which they are looking to the future.
Landlord Confidence Index (LCI) No.12: 2021 Q4
The Quarter 4 survey shows confidence at record highs for the third consecutive quarter. Nationally the Confidence Index is broadly neutral. In the regions, only the North East went clearly against the trend of rising confidence. However the evidence suggests landlords are being prompted to reduce their holdings: fears of rising costs are overtaking increasing levels of demand in making decisions about rents and portfolios.
In Focus (2021, Qtr 3) - Taxation, mediation and policy innovation
The Quarter 3 survey focuses on issues around taxation, mediation and potential policy innovations that could improve the private rented sector. The study reports on sources of business advice, how landlords pay tax and their current readiness for Making Tax Digital. The report also provides an overview of the NRLA's recent "Student Landlord" collaboration with the DfE.
London School of Economics highlight tax barriers faced by landlords
The LSE report Private Landlords and Tax Changes reviews the treatment of landlords in the PRS here against their peers in other developed economies. The authors conclude the UK tax system is increasingly hostile to UK landlords. This is in contrast to tax systems in many other developed economies.
LSE pinpoint landlords' tax disadvantage
The NRLA commissioned the LSE to draw out the implications of recent tax changes and the Covid pandemic for the private rented sector. The study also benchmarks the tax demands placed on landlords compared to their peers in other developed economies. Mainly as a result of changes since 2015, the authors conclude about the taxation system: "[It] now lies at the ungenerous end of the spectrum...of landlord tax regimes."
Landlords underpin tenant debt reduction
In November the NRLA surveyed over 2,000 tenants in the Private Rented Sector (PRS). This is the second survey of tenants undertaken in 2021. The survey shows tenant debt has fallen as has the number of tenant households in debt. The survey provides yet more evidence that landlords have been writing off tenant arrears accumulated since the onset of Covid-19.
Landlord Confidence Index (LCI) No.11: 2021 Q3
The Quarter 3 survey of landlord confidence shows an increase above the previous quarter's then-record level of confidence. This quarter, it has been an increase in confidence among landlords with London-based portfolio which has propelled the index. HOWEVER - confidence is still negative across the country (with the exception of the South West which recorded the first ever 'neutral' score).
Green Homes Grants: What went wrong? What went right?
Whilst the long-term target of government is to enable more than 600,000 homes in England to become more energy efficient, the GHG voucher scheme made only a modest contribution to meeting that target. However the scheme's failings and resultant low take-up does not negate the need for a scheme. The conclusion from the evidence presented here is that for those landlords who wished to address EPC levels, the GHG voucher provided invaluable support.
In Focus (2021 Qtr 2): Licensing & regulation
The quarter 2 survey looked at landlords' recent experience of licensing. Possible policy innovations are also tested. There is support for regulatory regimes among landlords IF an impact can be demonstrated - this is something which both local authorities and national initiatives (Rent Smart Wales) have failed to do. This In Focus also reports on a collaboration with Battersea Dogs' Home.
