A recent report on the ‘affordable’ housing market recommended increasing the length of tenancy contracts in the UK from six months to 24 months. But an overwhelming 82% of flat and house-sharers are opposed to the move, according to a new poll carried out by the house share website SpareRoom.co.uk.

Although most tenancy contracts include break clauses, effective after a certain period of time, only one in ten respondents agreed with the proposals. Whilst longer tenancies would benefit families needing greater stability, this is not viewed positively amongst house sharers, who tend to be young professionals and who wish to ‘stay flexible’.

But the survey shows it is not only tenants who oppose longer contracts. Landlords are also voicing concerns over current lending regulations and possession laws that, they feel, do not go far enough in allowing them to get rid of bad tenants and keep good tenants.

Matt Hutchinson, director of SpareRoom, said: “Extended rental contracts make people anxious, because they think they’ll be locked in for longer and the landlord will be able to increase rents at any point.

“Given that one of the benefits of renting is the flexibility to relocate to another area or a more suitable property if a tenant’s circumstances change, we can understand why people might be wary of longer contracts.

House sharers also voiced concerns that a 24-month tenancy could place further restrictions on what landlords would accept as they seek to reduce their risk, with stricter rules on deposits and rent guarantors.

Hutchinson added: “Many landlords would be happy to extend tenancies for good tenants but they are precluded from doing so by mortgage lender restrictions. Landlords have voiced their concerns around the provision of longer tenancies, which included the difficulty of evicting bad tenants in the event they damage property or fail to pay their rent.

“A change to rental contracts that discouraged investment in property for rent could serve to exacerbate the housing crisis rather than to resolve it.”