Using the concept of a stylised industrial process, this graphic article explores how landlords move into, through and out of the PRS over time, highlighting that landlord participation is often more dynamic and responsive to changing conditions than policy debates suggest.

The article illustrates how landlord entry and exit are rarely driven by a single factor. Instead, they tend to reflect an accumulation of signals, pressures, experiences and changing expectations across the investment lifecycle.

The conveyor concept also highlights a broader issue within housing policy. Policymakers helped create an environment that encouraged small-scale PRS investment over several decades, but many of the signals that once supported participation have weakened considerably.

Housing systems tend to respond to incentives, uncertainty, risk and human behaviour in unintended and unexpected ways, yet these behavioural dimensions often remain overlooked within policy and public debate, potentially contributing to some of the outcomes now emerging across the sector.