Fears that renter act may lead to holiday lets rise

> Beadnell has the highest level of second home ownership in Northumberland

- JAMES ROBINSON Local Democracy Reporter [e-mail]

A LEADING Conservative councillor in Northumberland has claimed the Government’s new Renters Rights Act could see private landlords take their properties off the market and turn them into holiday lets.

Coun Guy Renner-Thompson, who represents the Bamburgh ward on Northumberland County Council, feared the act would lead to fewer homes and soaring rents.

The act, which received royal assent last Monday, abolishes “no fault evictions” in a bid to “rebalance” landlord-tenant relations across the country.

The Government has said that “good landlords” have “nothing to fear” from the new legislation.

Coun Renner-Thompson, the chairman of Northumberland Conservatives, said: “This law heaps regulation and red tape on landlords and we will see many selling up, leading to fewer homes available and soaring rents.