The BBC have reported that rents across Northern Ireland have surged over the past five years by an average of 51%. In typical BBC style however, it was heavily orientated towards tenants and in their usual way they discriminated against landlords by declining to feature any on their programmes to give a balanced report. They did however identify the issue through one commentator: the lack of supply, plus rising landlord costs and interest rates.

The report did not however identify why there was a reduction in rental properties in Northern Ireland. Both local and central government have been heaping costs on landlords through over-taxation and regulation. Despite being repeatedly told that it would force private landlords out of the market, both Tory and Labour governments continued with their anti-landlord policies. Stormont has followed suit with regulation after regulation, again despite being warned about the exact situation we now face. 

Like many agents we have seen a steady reduction in rental properties as landlords sell up because they are fed up. With reportedly around 50,000 people on the social housing waiting list, you would think that it might make more sense to try and encourage landlords...but then this is Northern Ireland where common sense in our politicians is pretty rare.