As landlords continue to exit the private rented sector (PRS), industry leaders are sounding the alarm over a deepening rental crisis that threatens to drive up rents and leave tenants with nowhere to go.
New figures from the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) show a sharp rise in households at risk of homelessness — up 19% between the end of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025. The most alarming factor? Landlords selling their rental properties. From January to March this year, more than 6,500 households in England faced homelessness solely because their landlords decided to sell up — nearly triple the number of cases linked to re-letting decisions.
With every property that disappears from the rental market, supply tightens further. Demand, however, remains strong — and that imbalance is driving up rents, leaving tenants with few affordable options. Even as properties are sold, many are snapped up by owner-occupiers or investors looking for other uses — placing them permanently out of reach for renters.
“This is a slow-burning disaster for tenants,” says Ben Rayner, director at Good Place Lettings. “Every time a landlord sells, it shrinks the pool of homes available to rent. That puts pressure on rents, and tenants simply can’t afford to buy the properties they’re being evicted from.”
While some suggest the homes could eventually return to the rental market, Rayner says that’s little consolation to families forced to uproot their lives. “There’s no quick fix here. We need urgent, landlord-focused action to stop the drain of rental homes from the system.”
The NRLA’s chief executive, Ben Beadle, is urging the government to act before the Autumn Budget. “Landlords selling homes is disastrous for tenants. Even if a property comes back into the rental market, it’s rarely in time to help those forced to move,” he said. “The Chancellor must act to help responsible landlords keep homes available and affordable.”
Experts say a healthy, well-supported PRS is essential to addressing the UK’s wider housing crisis. Earlier this year, international housing charity World Habitat stressed the sector’s potential to meet the growing need for secure, affordable homes — but only if it is protected from collapse.
As more landlords weigh up their future, the message from the sector is clear: without decisive action, fewer rental homes will mean higher rents, greater insecurity, and a growing number of tenants priced out of a place to live.