Renting in London: why private rentals can be as vital as build-to-rent schemes in solving the housing crisis

When the Government published its long-awaited plans for the housing market last week, it admitted private landlords such as me have done a pretty good job at providing much-needed rental accommodation — but thanks very much, it doesn't need us any more.

Instead, its plan to "fix the broken housing market" is to tax us to the hilt in the hope we will ultimately shrivel up and disappear, while it simultaneously sets about spending billions on encouraging large institutional investors to throw up skyscrapers filled with teeny-weeny boxes — sorry, apartments — to rent.

How ironic. Corporations will be encouraged to build new rental homes while the army of private landlords who already provide accommodation for four million households in England could be forced to evict our tenants if the loss of mortgage interest tax relief, being phased in from April, makes our businesses financially unviable.

It seems so bizarre that on one hand the Government acknowledges "we need more quality privately rented homes", yet on the other it is introducing a more punitive tax regime specifically designed to force landlords to sell up.

This is especially odd when this latest housing White Paper says the standard of privately rented homes has improved considerably over the past decade. At present, 65 per cent of tenants are reported to be happy with their accommodation compared to just 48 per cent in 2004-05.

Government should of course do more to encourage the building of more affordable homes for rent — but not every tenant will want to live in these new properties. Those who don't will have to pay a premium to live elsewhere, if private landlords are forced to increase rents to cover their higher tax bills.

However, I was relieved to see that there was no talk in the White Paper of rent caps, which have been mooted by previous governments, and while this bunch want to encourage three-year tenancies for families, they don't seem intent on imposing these on existing landlords. The Government said only that it will encourage developers of new builds to offer "family-friendly tenancies".

That the Government said it's considering making electrical safety checks compulsory for all rental accommodation is excellent news in my book. Houses must be safe for tenants.

I'm also pleased to see it is considering making client money protection compulsory for letting agents; pushing ahead with plans to ban some letting agent fees "as soon as Parliamentary time allows", and extending mandatory licensing for Houses in Multiple Occupation to protect the most vulnerable tenants.

It would just be nice if the Government wanted to work with us private landlords to raise standards for all tenants, and if it would acknowledge that we can help to fix the housing market, alongside the new build-to-rent kids on the block.

Victoria Whitlock lets four properties in south London. To contact Victoria with your ideas and views, tweet @vicwhitlock