A landlord who used to have a 100-strong property portfolio homes has told the BBC that multiple pressures on the sector including looming regulations, higher interest rates and costs have persuaded him to cut his portfolio down to 65 units recently.

David Coughlin, who also runs BTL property buying firm National Residential, told this morning’s BBC Breakfast show on Radio 5 Live that being a landlord has become a lot tougher in particularly after the ‘near zero’ interest rate period following the credit crunch ended and mortgage premiums began to rise.

He told presenter Rick Edwards that landlords like him have had to deal with ever-rising mortgage costs which have not been matched by rising rents.

Caught out

“I think a lot of landlords got caught out by that and they’ve been playing catch-up and for those who can’t afford those losses, it’s made them think long and hard about whether it’s time to sell part of all of their portfolio,” said Coughlin.

“We deal with a lot of landlords through our agency who have made their money through capital growth and therefore they feel it's an ideal time to sell up.”

Coughlin was joined on the programme by agent Cathy Fish (pictured) from Lancashire lettings agency Armistead Barnett, who said that in her area the output of fewer landlords was plain to see with rents continuing to rise amid a ‘very busy’ market.

“We’ve seen a shortage of affordable rental properties and every property we list to rent gets a lot of people applying to rent it.”