#Section24 was the first real nail in the coffin for many landlords.   Introduced by George Osborne in 2015, it removed full mortgage interest tax relief and completely changed the numbers for leveraged investors.   But that was only the beginning.   Since then landlords have faced:   * The 3% additional stamp duty surcharge * EPC uncertainty and rising compliance costs * Abolishment of Section 21 * Licensing schemes spreading across councils * Higher borrowing costs * Reduced tax allowances * Endless regulation and red tape   The result?   Many smaller landlords have sold up. Rental supply has tightened. Rents have continued rising.   You can’t keep increasing costs for landlords and expect tenants not to feel the impact too.   The irony is that many landlords were never massive corporations.   They were ordinary people trying to build long-term income, future pensions, and decent homes for tenants.   Yet over the last decade, government policy has made many feel like the enemy instead of part of the housing solution.   Meanwhile demand keeps rising, supply keeps shrinking, and everyone wonders why rents continue climbing.   At what point does government realise you cannot regulate your way out of a housing shortage?   Curious to hear other views on this. Has policy since 2015 improved the rental market… or made it worse? ©️Sarkis Mahseredjian

Posted by Cristian Bunescu at 2026-05-28 13:00:42 UTC