Northumberland County councillor defends private landlords

The comments by Conservative councillor David Towns, who represents the Pegswood ward, followed a report that showed an increase in the number of people referred to Northumberland County Council’s homelessness service citing the end of a private rented tenancy.

In 2020/21, the figure stood at 55 – while in 2021/22 that had risen to 178. The report described the 224 per cent rise as “massive” and added that the issue was due to Covid-19, where “many households found themselves in financial difficulty as a result of furlough, reduced working hours or loss of employment”.

During the pandemic, the Government put a ban on bailiff-enforced evictions of private tenants in place – but this ended in May 2021.

At a meeting of the Castle Morpeth Local Area Council, officers acknowledging that this also had an impact on the figure.

However, councillors were also told that, due to rising interest rates, many landlords were simply deciding to sell up and move away from the sector. According to a 2021 Government report, 75 per cent of private landlords used a mortgage to purchase their first rental property.

Coun Towns said private landlords had been “assaulted”, but actually provided a “valuable service”.

He said: “There has been an assault on private landlords – not just by the Conservative Party, but by the opposition parties too. They are an easy target.

“They’re actually providing a really valuable service. I can tell you from my own experience and from what I’ve been told that there’s a lot of private landlords selling up.

“Interest rates have gone up and they’re being painted as villains. There’s also a number of regulations – you used to be able to count them on one hand, but now there’s over 200.

“Regulation is not necessarily a bad thing, but this is something I think we’re seeing across the country.”

According to the Resolution Foundation, the average mortgage – including those currently protected by a fixed rate – will see annual payments rise by £3,500 between quarter three of 2022 and quarter four of 2024.