Section 21 and why landlords will still hold all the keys in housing | Letters

SP Chakravarty says the market is inherently rigged against renters, David Griffiths wants court procedures reformed and Rev Paul Nicolson says fighting evictions will be a challenge

You are too kind in your view of the consultation paper (Editorial: Better protections for ‘generation rent’ are welcome – but only a start, 17 April). It is not a start. It is worse. It is an obfuscation of the source of the problem: the tax-benefit system is not neutral between home ownership and rental. Renters are abandoned in a rigged market at the mercy of unscrupulous landlords willing to take advantage of a severe shortage of accommodation. The rewards from rule-breaking are higher for landlords, as you point out, than any penalty that might be incurred through bad behaviour.

The underlying problem is housing finance. The paper is silent on that. Interest rates and lending rules, as a matter of policy, reward leveraged purchases by those lucky enough to be able to borrow. This is especially so because the government does not challenge inflationary expectations in housing investment. This would require articulating a credible programme for increasing supply, including social housing. That would then remove any financial incentive for landlords to evict tenants at whim.

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from Property | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2XqsBjZ
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