A mortgage lending expert has warned that landlord bashing risks pushing out more smaller landlords, creating a vicious circle of fewer available rental properties and higher rents for tenants.

Kate Davies (main image), executive director of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association, believes some might just be fed up and can’t be bothered anymore.

“Don’t bash landlords,” she told Mortgage Introducer. “They’ve had bad tenants or bad experiences and they will sell.

“In lots of cases, they will sell to another landlord, so the property won’t actually get lost from the private rented sector. There’s also a certain amount of activity going on with more people wanting to increase a portfolio and incorporate – they’re making better use of the tax breaks for landlords who are running their portfolios through a business.”

A patchwork quilt of landlords of different shapes and sizes

She believes this “curious picture” results in a very disparate jigsaw pattern. “A patchwork quilt of landlords of different shapes and sizes with different motivations and different business models.”

Regulatory changes, particularly around tenants’ rights, are another pivotal issue. The potential abolition of no-fault evictions exemplifies the ongoing tension between tenant protections and landlord rights, says Davies, raising practical concerns about implementation.

A striking example lies in rolling tenancies - a shift that could disrupt traditional rental agreements. Davies cites the scenario of tenants seeking fixed-term arrangements, a preference potentially at odds with the proposed new law.

Her association proposes six recommendations for a more effective policy framework for the sector: give greater recognition to the importance of the PRS, acknowledge that small landlords form the backbone of the sector, recognise that increased regulatory costs and risks will push up prices, accept that increased risk for landlords will require higher returns, acknowledge the ability of the market to drive up standards in the PRS, and apply policy more fairly across tenures.