A landlord who says he has frozen his tenants’ rents for more than five years says the Renters’ Rights Act has led him to advertise prices 31.8 per cent higher than they were a month ago.
James Buckley, 27, who owns six properties across Bath and Leeds, said he had previously absorbed rising costs because he viewed himself as “a custodian, not an extractor”.
Speaking to The i Paper, he said: “I held my rents flat since Covid. These are people’s homes, and stability matters more than squeezing an extra few pounds out each month.”
But he claims the recent Renters’ Rights Act – Labour’s flagship overhaul of the private rented sector – has changed his approach entirely.
The legislation, designed to strengthen tenant protections, abolished Section 21 no-fault evictions, introduced periodic tenancies, strengthened tenants’ rights to challenge rent increases.
