NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle believes the impending ban on bidding wars could mean landlords will simply charge higher asking rents.

The government insists that its Renters’ Rights Bill “will crack down on those who exploit the housing crisis by forcing tenants to bid for their properties”.

Under the legislation, landlords and letting agents will be legally required to publish an asking rent for their property, and will be banned from asking for, encouraging, or accepting any bids above this price.  

The change goes further than Labour promised while in opposition and aims to keep a lid on the rapid increase in rents and stop tenants being priced out.

Noble but misplaced

However, Beadle (pictured) says it’s a “noble but totally misplaced response to the problem” because, with 17 people applying for one property, it is tenants who are instigating bidding wars, not landlords, due to a lack of supply.

“I’ve been at the receiving end of said bidding war and I know exactly what’s going to happen,” he says. “If you’re not able to accept an offer over what you ask, you would just ask more, and I suspect you would end up getting more rent as a result.”

Beadle says the NRLA believes the solution is simply “supply, supply, supply”. He adds: “Yes, extra social housing, yes, get shovels in the ground, but I’m afraid that’s all going to take time, and we need a responsible private rental sector, we need the rest of the sector to do what the vast majority of landlords are already doing, and we will be making that argument very strongly.”