
House share availability has dropped by almost -60% in some parts of England, sparking fears of an HMO landlord exodus.
HMO management platform COHO’s analysis of Zoopla listings data reveals that despite little change in tenant demand, the number of available house shares has fallen by -15% between June and September.
Availability dropped in 11 of the 12 major English cities analysed by COHO, with Bradford (-59%) and Leeds (-55%) seeing more than half of the available stock leave the market. Meanwhile, stock has dwindled by more than 20% in Manchester (-33%), Brighton (-32%), Leicester (-24%), Nottingham (-23%), and Sheffield (-21%)
London is the only city to have seen an increase in house share stock, with numbers rising by 4% between June and September.
Meanwhile, over the same period, tenant appetite for house shares has increased by just 3% in England - growth that is not strong enough to explain such a drastic decline in availability, according to COHO.

The only reasonable conclusion seems to be that HMO landlords have started exiting the sector, says COHO founder and CEO, Vann Vogstad (pictured), who believes it is being unfairly maligned.
He suggests that landlords might be driven out by the increased HMO stigma peddled by certain corners of Westminster and the press in relation to England’s migrant housing crisis, causing planning councils to shy away from approving new shared living schemes.
They could also be choosing to cash out ahead of the Renter’s Rights Bill being passed into law or due to Labour’s proposal of taxing rental income. “This in particular is going to be a huge blow to HMO landlords whose rental income per property tends to be greater than your standard buy-to-let,” explains Vogstad. “We can’t be surprised now if swathes of HMO landlords decide that enough is enough and leave the sector altogether.”
Tags:
Comments