The loss of council owned rented properties is responsible for the large increases in the cost of renting a home.
Council controlled rented accommodation acts as an anchor to the market. The council owns the asset for a long period and rental income just needs to cover repayments (over say 50 years), interest and maintenance.
Since property prices have always increased there is no necessity for rents to rise.
In the free market landlords are trade in their property much more frequently. Each time a property changes hands the sale price is higher and therefore the rent must increase.
If there were more council properties it would clearly show up any rip off pricing in the private market.
Since the property market is such a good investment for private landlords why isn't government more keen to be in this market? Why should government expenditure only ever be an expense an rarely an investment?
