Nottingham benefits landlord Mick Roberts has robustly defended those landlords who get involved in a bidding war during an interview on 5 Live’s breakfast show.

Quizzed by presenter Rachel Burden (pictured) about the reasons behind Labour’s plan to ban tenants bidding for rental properties, Roberts blamed the onslaught of legislation and increasing uncertainty around costs for landlords’ actions.

“There’s a shortage of landlords…landlords are packing up like wildfire and we’ve got a supply and demand issue,” he explained. “In Nottingham we’ve got a selective licensing scheme that costs £900, and some landlords are on the edge.

“If they’re going to get two tenants bidding against each other – because we never know what’s going to come next – they’re going to take that bid.”

A Cornerstone Tax poll recently found that one in five tenants had lost out in a property bidding war during the last two years, with those in London, Southampton and Brighton facing the toughest competition.

Tax shock

Roberts (pictured) said that about 60% of landlords don’t give rent increases but because they have no idea when the next tax shock is coming up, many reasonably think they need to increase the rent.

He pointed to the situation in Scotland where the current 3% cap on rents has caused tenants to end up much worse off following rent increases.

If the PRS was given more freedom, there would be lots of landlords, the supply would build back up, and they would be fighting for tenants, argued Roberts.

“Pre-2015 I used to fight for tenants – my tenants can’t leave me anymore,” he added. “A landlord isn’t a charity, a council or housing association, he’s a human being and he can take his money elsewhere. They’re packing up - you’ll have no more landlords left soon.”

Picture credit: Shutterstock/Brookgardener