Landlord confirms that "bashing landlords" leads to an increase in owner-occupation levels

The Chairman of the Residential Landlord’s Association in today’s City AM:

When the UK last had [rent controls], the private rented sector fell from 55 per cent of households in 1939 to just 8 per cent in the late 1980s.

OK, allow me to rephrase that: “When the UK last had [rent controls], owner-occupation increased from 35 per cent of households in 1939 to 72 per cent in the late 1980s.”

There then follows the usual gurgling about lack of supply, the old argument “we can cool the fire down by throwing more twigs on it. Twigs are cooler than fire, aren’t they?”.

… private landlords created 60 per cent of new homes homes between 1986 and 2012 – a total of 3m. There is a market for corporate investment as well as private.

Allow me to rephrase that: “Developers and construction workers created 100 per cent of new homes since 1986, and landlords snapped up most of them.”