Four out of five landlords (81%) believe the portrayal of the buy-to-let (BTL) market in the mainstream media has not been fair and accurate, a study by Landbay has found.

While demand for rental properties remains incredibly high, landlord respondents to the survey said they feel “demonised” with the role they play in the UK’s wider housing mix is “not recognised” by the mainstream media.

According to Landbay’s latest quarterly study, which was based on responses from more than 1,100 landlords, respondents argued that the media blames “greedy” landlords for the lack of stock and increasing rents, rather than the lack of properties built by the government over many years.

When asked if they agreed with the statement that the media portrayal is fair and accurate, one third of landlords (33%) strongly disagreed, while almost half (48%) disagreed.

Managing director, intermediaries at Landbay, Paul Brett, said: “There’s no question landlords have needed to be thick-skinned with successive anti-landlord governments and plenty of anti-landlord rhetoric in the national news. It’s unfortunate that bad news leads when there are so many positive examples of good landlords working in partnership with tenants to provide quality housing.

“With such a reliance on rented accommodation as part of the wider housing mix in the UK, we need quality landlords more than ever. We also need new entrants too as demand continues to outstrip supply.

“To make this all happen though, the government must champion those good quality landlords and work with the sector, rather than against it. This will hopefully bring a more balanced approach to the national news agenda and relieve some of the pressure felt by honest and hard-working landlords across the country.”

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