Paragon calls for government to support private rented sector
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Speaking at the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ annual buy-to-let and private rented sector conference today, John Heron, managing director of Paragon Mortgages called for the government to do more to support the private rented sector.
He says landlords need to be viewed as small-to-medium-sized businesses and should be supported as they develop their portfolios.
Heron says: “For years housing policy has failed to address the fact that if we want a larger private rented sector, private landlords have to be motivated to expand supply.
“If we look abroad to countries around the world with larger private rented markets you find housing and fiscal policies considerably more supportive of private landlords, with tax breaks for depreciation and capital losses a routine element of the mix used to motivate landlords.
“Such an approach in the UK would make investment less cyclical and more long-term, to the benefit of landlords, tenants and ultimately the UK plc.”
The private rented sector he says makes a great contribution to the UK economy – it facilitates labour mobility and flexibility, provides an income to thousands of small businesses, supports a number of associated industries, such as letting agents and maintenance companies, oils the wheels of the housing market and makes a great contribution to the public purse.
He adds: “Buy-to-let has played a major role in this, providing the vital finance needed to fund the improvement in choice and standards. Buy-to-let is not just about a balance sheet – it has had a clear and tangible beneficial impact on the lives of millions of renters.”
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Readers' comments (5)
Nick | 22 Jun 2011 4:11 pm
I say call for government to hurry up and get interest rates back to 5.5% (which they will surely get back to), that will reduce house prices by 50%, and then we can buy and won't require the rental sector, unless the government really do want us to return to Dickensian times.
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Anonymous | 22 Jun 2011 6:26 pm
Or, maybe an idea would be to insist that companies must own assets outright to be allowed to lease them to other people.
Surely companies must be solvent to be allowed to operate?
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Gavin, London | 22 Jun 2011 6:37 pm
Buy to let is a parasite on society and should not get extra assistance. Buy to let unfairly targets first time buyer homes and has unfair tax advantages compared to the FTB. It also destroys sense of community in the area and erodes quality of the outside maintenance.
We need increased taxes and higher interest rates on buy to let.
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Rob Moore | 23 Jun 2011 2:17 pm
Buy to let should be given no perks because they buy houses that people may want to buy to live in. BUILD to let should receive lots of perks so we get more houses built in this country and increase the supply.
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Anonymous | 23 Jun 2011 7:04 pm
You silly people! Buy to let is providing essential housing for millions of people in the UK who can't secure their own property for some reason, and the councils no longer have many council-owned properties. The government will need to address this problem and BTL is just one strand. The misinformed anti-BTL commenters clearly don't understand the critical role BTL is playing in our society, at all levels, and I guess you'd prefer the old right to buy scheme at the cost of the taxpayer. I guess you're not landlords and have very little idea of how the rental sector works. Do a little homework!
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