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I was a London housing lawyer in the 1980s and 1990s, and well remember the old regime. While the intention of the proposals is laudable, the devil will be in the detail. The regulated rental market in the 1980s was patchy, and properties often of poor quality, as well as being scarce. The 1990s liberalisation of the market lead directly to banks realising that they could safely lend on properties rented out, as they would be able to get vacant possession if they had to. The resulting ready availability of cash is what sparked the BTL boom, with (now) many flats being built and sold specifically for the BTL market.

A driver in what effect the changes have on the BTL market will be the banks' reaction. No doubt they are pondering the proposals!

I agree with Andrew Melling, and anon@14.39: the bigger picture is that the social housing sector needs boosting, which also possibly means restoring the block grants system, and not expecting social landlords to operate as self funding businesses - which can make their little different from commercial developers. Also, moderate right-to-buy: it's short-sighted to build social housing only to have it privatised later, at a discount.