State Intervention into Renting: Making sense of the impact of policy changes

Housing is quickly rising up the political agenda, with more focus being directed to policy changes in the private rented sector. At the moment there are currently 15 consultations by the Government on issues affecting the sector. Notwithstanding this, numerous changes have already been announced that will see the Government take direct actions to influence the operation of a market. These changes include the proposed deposit cap, the ban on letting agent fees, and the already introduced ‘Right to Rent’ checks, that essentially turn Landlords into defacto border control officers. This report provides an opportunity to make sense of recent and proposed policy changes and how these changes are and will change the nature of renting. This report presents the findings from our longitudinal research project and survey data collected from 2,792 responses.