An experienced portfolio landlord who has rented a house in London for many years says she is selling the property after the recent and looming changes to the sector have made it ‘too risky’.

Yorkshire-based Ruth Millington (main image), who had a long senior career in the legal profession before turning to landlording cites a long list of reasons why it’s time to sell up, and says many landlords like her are feeling the same way.

“I just think so many are losing confidence in the sector,” she says.

“Two main things have led me to sell my property in London; the Renters Rights’ Bill and the risk of a capital gains tax increase in Rachel Reeve’s Autumn Budget.

Millington also says she’s more than happy to pay her fair share of the tax burden, but that a key part of becoming a landlord was to provide homes for people but also to enable her to set up a pension – something recent and looming changes to tax and regulation put in jeopardy.

“I don’t have any  trust in this Government and think their main aim is to shrink the small landlord sector and let in the big corporates like John Lewis."

“The lovely tenants in my London house have been paying a significantly discounted rent for some time but the Renters’ Right Bill will give me and many landlords like me a big headache,” she says.

“This is because I feel it will limit how and when we can raise rents and under the new rules, tenants can argue it will be unfair to raise the rent to ‘market average’ but on the other hand costs have been rising.

Sleepless nights

“I was having many sleepless nights over this, including the new rules within the Bill which will give renters the right to give notice after just two months – in London this could easily turn into an ‘Airbnb by the back door’ scenario where tenants will use the rules to rent properties for short periods of time without paying short-lets rates.

“I think people are playing down this potential development once the Bill because law.”

Millington also says she has become frustrated with the selective licencing scheme that covers her London house, largely because its rules mean she can only rent out to a certain number of tenants, so one of her bedrooms lies unused which she considers a ‘waste’.

Her other worry is that the property will not reach an EPC band C by 2030 under the new rules being brought in by Labour, and whether she would have been able to afford the upgrade costs.

Risks

“It’s all these risks put together that mean I will have to charge at least market rent to ensure that the property is viable, and that would have put more financial stress on the property and any future tenants – and on that basis I’ve decided it’s the right time to sell up and invest the money elsewhere,” she says.

“I don’t have any  trust in this Government and think their main aim is to shrink the small landlord sector and let in the big corporates like John Lewis.

“I think I would have sold the house eventually, but like many landlords, I’m bringing forward that decision.

"Yes, there are new landlords coming into the sector to replace the ones who are leaving, but they tend to be much more 'investment' focussed and less inclined to see themslelves as 'accommodation providers' like I do," she adds.