Housing Rights Private Rented Sector Conference 2022

On Tuesday 29 November, a range of professionals and campaigners in the Private Rented Sector (PRS) met in the Skainos Centre in Belfast (as well as joining online) to discuss the challenges facing renters in Northern Ireland. Housing Rights CEO Janet Hunter chaired proceedings and welcomed attendees from local government, campaign groups, civil servants and landlords’ representatives.

Hitting Home: Challenges in the Private Rented Sector

The challenges being faced are unprecedented, with pressures coming from rising rents and interest rates, spiraling food and energy costs, as well as a shortage of supply in the PRS. David Polley, Director of Housing Supply Policy at the Department for Communities, highlighted some actions that they have been taking to improve the overall situation. Jordan Buchanan from Property Pal then highlighted some of the major trends taking place in the NI property market, and warned about uncertainty ahead. Professor Alex Marsh of the University of Bristol presented recent CaCHE research on the behaviour of landlords across the UK.

Private Tenancies Act and Regulations

This led on to a section on the reforms contained within the Private Tenancies Act 2022 (PTA), many of which will come into effect in the coming months. Justin Cartwright presented the findings of a recent Chartered Institute of Housing report on rent controls, using international examples and local surveys to model their possible effects if introduced into Northern Ireland. This was followed by a panel discussion which included representatives from Belfast City Council, the Department for Communities, the Tenancy Deposit Scheme NI and Propertymark on the effect of the PTA on the sector.

After lunch, we joined breakout sessions that covered Discretionary Housing Payments, Intermediate Rent, affordable credit and tenant commissions. These small group discussions were led by practitioners and allowed attendees to explore these issues in some depth.

Cost of living crisis

The final section of the day was devoted to the cost of living crisis which is having a profound effect on the PRS and broader society. Chris Birt from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation gave a succinct overview of how the failure to build social houses has had a massive effect on the PRS. He was followed by a presentation from private tenants advocacy group Renters’ Voice, whose recent survey found that two thirds of their respondents could not cover their basic household expenses.

The day concluded with a panel discussion that included landlords’ and tenants’ views on how best to deal with the cost-of-living crisis. This crisis has been compounded by fuel poverty and the increasing unaffordability of PRS homes, something that Extern Homes amongst others have been trying to combat.

While many themes recurred throughout the day, the need to build more social homes emerged as a key part of the solution to the problems faced in the PRS, and while recent improvements are to be welcomed (including the implementation of the Private Tenancies Act) we still have some way to go.

David Polley, Department for Communities -  The Policy Context
Jordan Buchanan, Property Pal - Resilient Economy to be tested in latest crisis
Professor Alex Marsh, CaCHE - Understanding landlord lehaviour in the UK private rented sector
Justin Cartwright, CIHNI - Rent regulation in the private sector in Northern Ireland
Chris Birt, JRF - A new approach to discretionary housing payments
Renters Voice - Cost of living crisis curvey findings