Mr. John-Mark McCafferty:

On smaller landlords, a balance must be struck and it is a delicate one. The vast majority of people whom Threshold assists, work with and advise are being housed by small landlords. We do not take the things that we are saying lightly as we are mindful of that balance.

There is a place for the larger institutional investors. They have grown. I have worked in this area for some years and had hoped that the larger institutional investors would be one of the larger sources of supply for private rental tenants. However, they are essentially interested in the higher-end or higher-income renter. As such, as well as attempting to retain what we have, we require affordable rental. We need supply which is provided by a number of players, including approved housing bodies, and which provides rental at an affordable level but which is also financially sustainable for the providers themselves. There could be a range of providers that may be able to offer this. It is something that has been debated at Government level for some time. It would be great to see some of these come on stream and build up in volume.

I will respond to some of the comments. We talk about a dwellings-specific rent register. There is already a property sale index which is specific to the dwellings that are sold so there is already a precedent. We referred to sales as grounds for eviction. England is not my favourite country right now, particularly in light of Brexit, but it is a place where sale is not permitted as a grounds to evict.

It is a common law jurisdiction, like the Republic of Ireland, but even in a place with such ambivalent policies towards renters that is a rule.