Ms Margaret McCormick:

Regarding inspections, the cost of a provision of accommodation is already very expensive. Adding any additional costs makes it more expensive and increases the cost all across the board. That just does not make financial sense. We need to have good-quality accommodation; there is no argument about that. Properties need to be inspected. Local authorities need to be able to inspect them. We need assessment criteria that reflect the quality of the accommodation that is out there. However, to bring in something else will just increase the cost and introduce more bureaucracy. Somebody will have to be brought in to do it. The timeline of that will mean the property will be off the market until such time as the process has been completed. It just does not make a lot of sense to do it. Many landlords rewarded good tenants by keeping their rents low. They are the very people we want and need to keep in the market but they are the very people who are leaving it because they have been punished punitively for doing that for their tenants. If those tenants move, they have to hold the rent for the next tenants.

We have a dysfunctional market. We need emergency relief and support and we need substantial, meaningful change in the tax treatment of the sector. If that is not done, investment will go elsewhere. We are not even retaining our existing investors. We are a membership organisation and retention of our members is really important, alongside getting new members. That is key here.