Landlords made up a large proportion of voters in 124 constituencies in the Election in 2017.
The votes of private landlords could be pivotal in deciding the outcome in over 100 constituencies in the upcoming General Election, the Residential Landlord Association (RLA) has claimed.
An analysis of data obtained byThe Timesfrom HMRC has found that in 124 constituencies across the UK, the number of people declaring income from property in 2017/18 was the same as or larger than the overall majorities of those candidates elected in 2017.
Of those seats 55 were won by Conservatives, 39 by the Labour Party and seven won by the Liberal Democrats.
David Smith, policy director for the RLA, said: “Private landlords could be decisive in who ends up in Downing Street following the election.
“For those unable to afford a home of their own or unable to access social housing the rental market is their only hope of having somewhere to live.
“With that in mind, we call on all political parties to do more to support good landlords to provide the homes to rent we need.
“That is why all parties need to do more to enforce the wide range of powers already available to root out criminal landlords rather than introduce new obligations which have no hope of being properly enforced by hard pressed councils.”
Of those constituencies in which the landlord vote is the same as or larger than the majorities won in 2017, 14 are in London, 12 are in the South East, 11 are in the East Midlands and 11 are in the North West.
In Scotland 25 seats could see landlords decide the final results compared to nine seats in Wales and six in Northern Ireland.
