I am in absolute turmoil. I know I will not be alone. Over the past few months, I have been evicting (while I still can) and selling more of my property business. I never expected to do this and I struggle every day worrying that I am knee-jerking, but what do you do when the keys to the asylum get handed to the inmates?
I wanted to be in this for the long haul and I have to remember that in my 20 years of business there have been 22 housing ministers. But how much longer can I hang on? And is it really worth it?
The direction of travel is clear. The Conservative Government hates private landlords and has done everything in its power to make it difficult to operate with their unfair taxes and proposal to ban Section 21. But the shadow minister for Housing and Planning, Matthew Pennycook, has made his contempt for private landlords abundantly clear before he even gets his seat in parliament.
What now? Where do I go from here? Is it really worth me trying to fight for my business anymore when it’s clear all any government wants is more social landlords and big business to fill private landlords’ shoes?
What really frustrates me is every minister’s lack of understanding for how the private rental market is currently working. They don’t seem to understand that currently serving a Section 21 doesn’t even get you your property back.
You have to fight tooth and nail. You have to get a solicitor. You have to go to court. You have to foot all those expensive bills and take all of that stress on just to try and get your property back with the current system – and they’re planning to take Section 21 away from us?
How much more could they break this system?
