The Covid-driven economic downturn this year has severely shaken landlord confidence, a new poll has revealed. 

Two thirds of private landlords in England and Wales expect their rental business to be negatively impacted by Covid, the survey among 2,000 members of the National Residential Landlords Association has revealed. This has caused confidence to fall, with 56% saying that they were less, or much less, confident of being able to achieve their goals over the next year compared to three months ago.

This includes that while 16% plan to buy an additional property over the next 12 months, 30% said they would be disposing of one or more properties, despite a rise in demand for homes within the private rented sector in recent months. 

Ben Beadle, chief executive at the NRLA, says: “Whilst the vast majority of landlords have been working constructively with their tenants where they have struggled due to the pandemic, it is not sustainable to expect them or tenants to continue having rent arrears building indefinitely. This is highlighted in the lower levels of confidence among landlords and the impact it is having on their businesses.”