Labour wants to ban tenant bidding wars – landlord explains why that won’t work

Labour wants to ban tenant bidding wars – landlord explains why that won’t work

9:51 AM, 6th December 2023, About A year ago 89

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The Labour Party says it wants the UK to outlaw tenant bidding wars for rented homes, adopting a New Zealand policy, the Party’s Shadow Housing Minister, Matthew Pennycook, says.

Several Australian states have also apparently followed suit and Labour says the practice ‘creates a competition among tenants’ which only benefits the landlord.

Mr Pennycook says: “Those tenants who lose out on a property because of bidding wars are in a worse situation.

“And those who manage to get a property by that method are often stretched to the maximum of what they can pay.”

Labour now wants to amend the Renters (Reform) Bill that is working its way through Parliament.

‘Tenants outbidding each other’

And on 5 Live Breakfast, Nottingham landlord Mick Roberts was questioned by presenter Rachel Burden over the bidding practice, when she asked: “Do you get your tenants outbidding each other for your properties?”

Mr Roberts replied: “I do, and I’ve had that in the past, but I don’t get into it. But I can understand why other landlords are doing it.”

He was then asked why this situation is happening and Mr Roberts replied: “Well, you’ve got a shortage of landlords and since 2015 there’s been this anti-landlord rhetoric and the landlords are packing up like wildfire.

“And now you’ve got a supply and demand issue – and we never know what is coming next.”

‘Going to get to tenants bidding against each other’

He added: “For example, in Nottingham we’ve got a selective licensing charge of £900 and for some landlords, if they’re going to get to tenants bidding against each other, then they are going to take that bid.”

Along with the prospect of Labour banning tenants bidding for a rented property, Mr Roberts asked Ms Burden whether we should also ban bidding on the shopping site eBay and ban house sellers when bidding puts the price up.

Ms Burden asked: “Having somewhere to live is kind of a basic human right and need, isn’t it? And if people are being priced out of the market, this is really problematic.”

Mr Roberts replied: “I agree, but is it the landlord’s job to provide that basic human right?

“The landlord’s job is to provide a home – they are not a charity. It’s not the council providing that home, it’s not a housing association, it’s a human being. And he can take his money elsewhere.”

Landlord advertising a property at a certain price

Ms Burden said that a landlord advertising a property at a certain price will know that the amount covers all the landlord’s costs and gives a buffer zone.

She then asked: “Then maybe there should be a system whereby you don’t allow people to come in and offer over that price.

“So, in other words, the landlord isn’t losing out. But you’re equally being fair to the renters.”

Mr Roberts said: “Well, you just hit the nail on the head. The landlord knows he’s covering his costs, but he isn’t because he doesn’t know what is coming next.

“Labour is proposing rent caps and if you look at Scotland, where they’ve done the rent cap, tenants have ended up much worse off from that. Now the new tenants can’t get a house.

“And when the landlord comes to rent it out again, he charges the most. And that’s what is happening in these bidding wars.”

‘Wait and see all the parties different manifestos’

Ms Burden said: “Obviously, we’ll have to wait and see all the parties’ different manifestos as to how they’re going to deal with this.

“But I guess that’s always been the case for any landlord. There’s always going to be some uncertainty for landlords.”

Mr Roberts replied: “There’s not as much certainty now and most of us are aware that a lot of Labour are anti-landlord, but you get rid of the landlord, and you’ve got no houses.

“You know, they’ve been calling for landlords to pack up and more great landlords are packing up when given the choice.

“There will be lots of landlords fighting for tenants – my tenants can’t leave me anyway, you know, I’m probably one of the rare ones.

“I want to sell a lot of my houses, but I can’t because they can’t get anywhere because of things like this bidding war.”

‘I won’t leave them in that position’

He continued: “I won’t leave them in that position because I’ve got morals and a conscience.

“But a lot of landlords, it’s something like 60% of landlords, don’t give rent increases, but because we don’t know when the next tax is coming from, I’ve got to get in as much as I can because I just don’t know.

“There’s no certainty anymore. I can’t even look after a family anymore.”

Mr Roberts added: “Lots of landlords are packing up and the more you talk about banning bidding wars and landlords not refusing pets, you’ll have no landlords left.”

Accepts that bidding wars happen

The chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, Ben Beadle, told BBC’s Newsbeat that he accepts that bidding wars happen but says many problems in the private rental market are due to supply issues.

He said: “You can’t go around banning everything.

“What I would say is we need to look at what’s forcing people to make these decisions.”

A government spokesperson told the programme: “It is ultimately for landlords and tenants to agree the amount of rent that should be charged when a tenancy begins.

“Our Renters (Reform) Bill will deliver a fairer, more secure, and higher quality private rental sector for landlords and tenants.”


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Mick Roberts

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14:17 PM, 6th December 2023, About A year ago

Reply to the comment left by JB at 06/12/2023 - 13:56
That's it JB, the majority of good tenants are paying for this, for the minority of bad tenants & bad landlords.

Beaver

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14:24 PM, 6th December 2023, About A year ago

Reply to the comment left by Mick Roberts at 06/12/2023 - 14:17
They are paying for bad tenants, bad landlords, failed policies and bad policy makers.

Mick Roberts

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14:59 PM, 6th December 2023, About A year ago

Reply to the comment left by Beaver at 06/12/2023 - 14:24
Yes Imbecile MP's & Councillor's & the staff they instruct.

Beaver

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15:04 PM, 6th December 2023, About A year ago

Reply to the comment left by Mick Roberts at 06/12/2023 - 14:59
That's right. And it may be good tenants who are prepared to look after a property and are prepared to pay more for it who are outbidding other tenants. So this may be good tenants who are putting rents up and if this labour proposal is correct then this proposal would take away their right to do it.

Mr.A

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15:14 PM, 6th December 2023, About A year ago

If your not a Landlord in Scotland you are very lucky, count your lucky stars , these SNP and Green Idiots are legislating to make Rent controls permanent in 2024 sometime and Landlords will not be able to reset the rent to market rate even when a new tenant moves in , we currently have open ended tenancies and the rent increase are limited to 3% or 6% if Landlord is about to lose the property.
No such restrictions on the Public sector or pbsa....no
Just on the Private Landlord, I've had people begging ,crying on the phone looking for decent accommodation, but I've sold most of the properties now but have kept my best 2 , now enjoying life a lot more , who needs the constant aggravation, i wouldn't want to be the richest corpse in the grave yard , these 2 properties will probably be sold in 2024 as well, Hasta la vista, baby , 😎

Beaver

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15:23 PM, 6th December 2023, About A year ago

Reply to the comment left by Mr.A at 06/12/2023 - 15:14
So that will restrict supply again and push up rents even more than they've just gone up in Scotland. But that's what really left-wing governments want. They want control over people's lives and crises for tenants don't really matter to them because they think they can just tax their way out of them.

But the truth is that they haven't got the money to fix the problem.

NewYorkie

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16:18 PM, 6th December 2023, About A year ago

Reply to the comment left by Mr.A at 06/12/2023 - 15:14
Hopefully, SNP and Greens will be kicked out at the next election, but I doubt Labour will be any better for landlords.

I have 1 BTL left; others sold. As they say, there are no pockets in shrouds!

Mr.A

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16:23 PM, 6th December 2023, About A year ago

Reply to the comment left by Beaver at 06/12/2023 - 15:23
What control do they have once a Landlord has sold .
NONE ,ZILCH,NADA AND F#£[ ALL

Mr.A

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16:28 PM, 6th December 2023, About A year ago

Reply to the comment left by NewYorkie at 06/12/2023 - 16:18There's no chance SNP will lose because there's only labour and con servatve to pick from both in Scotland more idiotic than the SNP .
Only hope is SNP get a large majority and don't need to toady to the green fascist anymore ....
The SNP were just about bearable before they needed the greens two votes to pass laws ..
That harvie ,boils my blood just looking at him 😂

Beaver

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16:40 PM, 6th December 2023, About A year ago

Reply to the comment left by Mr.A at 06/12/2023 - 16:23
SNP have more control of people's lives in Scotland if they've driven landlords out of the PRS. That control results in Scottish citizens having less choice over their lives. That's what left-wing governments like the Chinese Communist Party and the Russian Communist Party want. They want to say who lives where and in what because they believe they know better than the market.

I was talking to a Russian friend who grew up in Moscow last week and the accommodation the family had to live in was awful. That's the problem...if you restrict choice and attack the market even though you haven't got the money to fix the problem you make the lives of your citizens far worse.

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