There's been a lot of panic recently about landlords feeling the pinch and selling up. We are constantly warned that squeezing private landlords will just lead to skyrocketing rents as demand outstrips supply. But what if we're looking at this entirely the wrong way?
What if landlords exiting the market is actually the golden ticket we’ve been waiting for?
There’s a massively overlooked idea floating around right now, and it’s perfectly tailor-made for this exact situation. It’s called "buy the supply".
Here’s the basic gist: instead of watching landlords sell off their unwanted properties to other investors, the government should properly fund local councils to snap those homes right up.
Think about it. We desperately need to replenish our absolute decimated social housing stock. Right now, there are over 169,000 children living in temporary accommodation in England. It’s a miserable situation that messes with their health, happiness, and schooling.
The current system relies on a horribly sluggish model: finding an affordable scrap of land, fighting through planning permission, and waiting years for developers to build new apartment blocks (which are usually way too small for families anyway).
Buying the supply skips all that nonsense. It means zero construction risks. It provides immediate, ready-to-live-in family homes that are already sitting right next to existing schools, parks, and GP surgeries. Whether it’s buying back old Right to Buy homes or just grabbing decent properties as they hit the market, it’s a brilliant, fast, and cost-effective fix.
But wait, what about the renters? The Office for Budget Responsibility recently warned that shrinking the private rental market will just make life harder for tenants.
The problem with that logic is that it treats renting as an isolated bubble. They forget one massive detail: millions of private renters don’t actually want to be renting. They are just frustrated first-time buyers trapped in a wildly expensive cycle.
Yes, we will always need a small rental market – though there's no reason councils couldn't step in to provide a big chunk of that. But ultimately, a shrinking private rental sector means more homes coming onto the market for people to actually buy.
It means greater housing security. It means finally being able to hang up a picture frame in your living room without the underlying dread of losing your deposit.
If landlords want a soft landing out of the market, a government-funded acquisition programme could give it to them. Their newly burdensome cash cow could, quite simply, become someone else's longed-for home. And surely, that’s a win for everyone.
