Renters rights bill - 1 May 2026 good or disaster?

[Rosie8880]

So the renters rights bill has now been confirmed. From May 1 next year all tenancies will become rolling/ periodic and section 21 no fault evictions will end. Reading some blogs some landlords feel this is the end of private landlords. I don’t feel it is. Housing is a serious thing obvs and for many decades it’s been seen as a financial wealth building instrument, first, and a home second. I think tenants will stay in properties for longer now which will onto benefit local communities, and minimise people having to move around all the time. Will there be a shortage of housing now - I don’t feel there will be. As less people hopefully will need to move all the time. There will be less need. Plus the homes that do get out on market will help lower asking price as more homes are made available. But let me know your thoughts

I’ve sold my BTL. I’ve just put the money in an investment account (diversified funds). Far less hassle.

I’m not the only landlord getting out. There will be fewer properties available to rent so securing one is going to get more competitive and expensive.

Landlords will favour the most ‘attractive’ prospective tenants (eg 2 secure salaries, no kids). People who are less appealing to landlords will struggle to sign a place.

I hear the theory that if house prices fall that more people will be able to buy but many renters do not have a deposit saved and may not be mortgagae. Also, many / especially young - people don’t want to buy, in order to keep themselves mobile for work or personal reasons.

*mortgagable

I am amazed you don’t feel there will be a shortage of housing, indirectly of the bill. Landlords are already selling up in droves, so surely, once the bill becomes law and reality hits, more and more landlords will sell up because it’s not worth the hassle. So where will all those evicted tenants live?

Well, they will be rented out of course but the landlord will be a big company. It's not that hard to understand is it?

Its possible that a big company will redevelop a property and rent it out at much higher rents - like happened at Stratford for the Olympic project.

They might turn HMOs into family homes and vice versa. They will do whatever is needed to maximise their profits.

Im pretty sure a few years ago either some local authorities or housing associations were in the news because of the disgraceful, unhygienic and virtually uninhabitable conditions the tenants were living in. (Mould, water leaks, problems with toilets etc) These were organisations who presumably had to uphold certain standards and maintain the property ...except they didnt.....so not just just random people who might be shit landlords.
(Im not a LL or renter so no skin in the game, just putting a different side of the argument)

It’s crazy thinking that developers are going to buy all vacant properties / big companies. Has anyone seen how many properties are up for sale and have been for ages, particularly flats?

It will be interesting to see what happens, I'm just glad I'm not an (accidental) landlord any more!

I think the by-product of this will be lots of landlords will exit the market. Fine, however I don’t believe this will necessarily lead to a surge in house building, so there’s the potential for us to have a shortage of rentals. Private tenancies will be (even more) highly competed for in prime areas like London. Landlords who choose to remain in the market will be rightfully fussy about who they rent their properties to.

You can evict to sell though… can’t you? Nothing has changed there from what I understand.

Love the way everyone is an ‘accidental’ LL on this thread 😂

It'll be a nightmare for some communities..

I work for a HA dealing with antisocial behaviour and currently we can use S21 to evict starter tenants for serious ASB. Think drug dealing, excessive parties, abusive behaviour, violence etc.

Granted it doesn't apply to us until later in 2026 but now we will have to use section 8 only and those court dates and the legal process takes MUCH longer. Some courts are currently issuing possession court dates 10 months away. So communities will need to put up with nightmare neighbours for so much longer.

I do agree that private renters need more protection, but I'm not sure this is going to help rather than hinder.

What about people who want to rent? Genuinely?

I rented for a few years at the beginning of my working life and also when I was a student; even in a utopia where a basic job affords someone the ability to buy a home, not everyone wants to settle… I didn’t for years. What about those people?

It’s corporate landlords that we need. That’s what they have on the continent, where people will happily be long term renters because the companies are incentivised to maintain the properties and more importantly have the means to do so.

Like many terrible ideas Scotland has tried this already and 22,000 landlords left the market in the first year of operation alone and rents went sky high. The landlord can only increase the rent by a small amount each year unless the tenant changes. So whenever a tenant changes the landlord rack the rent sky high to protect himself in the future.

Bonkers idea. Yet another idea to restrict employee mobility and hence growth.

I don’t think landlords can just increase the rent by a small amount each year, per the discussion on this thread? The tenant can go to a tribunal for ANY rent increase.

Landlords can only raise the rent once a year and that can only be to the market rate. Tenants can still challenge this, but the reality is that most won’t because most landlords will know the accurate market rates, so no point for anyone to go to court.

No they can challenge any rent increase by going to tribunal. The increase can still be allowed but it won't be backdated so basically tenants will go to tribunal for every increase in order to delay it.

We usually don’t put the rent up if they’re a good tenant. But now, we will put it up every time if the market justifies the increase because if we don’t, it’ll be way out within two or three years. I don’t think this bill will have good consequences for tenants at all, it’s becoming an increasingly bureaucratic nightmare. Some of our tenants have been with us for 15 plus years…

Everyone

So a tenant can delay even a reasonable rent rise by going the tribunal route and staving it off for however many months it takes to get heard?

You can live in it check the new rules on renting that are now published

Landlords are selling, it's made the rental market more difficult which will mean prices will rise.

I am a private landlord and I have more than one property. I have never evicted anyone although I came close with someone who was behind on rent for several months. This new law makes me a bit nervous about getting stuck with a bad tenant. I would have to sell up to get rid of them. I also think this law makes me inclined to increase the rent quite significantly because I now have fewer options and rights, but I can increase the rent to a reasonable level.

I’d love to sell. I own one flat which was a huge error of judgment and I wish I’d stuck the inheritance into my own mortgage but stupidly (on advice) bought a small flat with a large mortgage. I had it on the market and kept reducing the price. In the end no offers even though I was happy to take a hit and would have accepted offers. I’ve now had to remortgage as dh was made redundant. I’m disabled and unable to work. We are screwed now as I can’t afford to sell now with remortgage penalties and I won’t be able to sell in the future as it has to remain empty and I can’t afford that. I’m awake again worrying about this and money. Not all landlords are rich. Some of us me are Just stupid.

I think that smaller landlords will sell up. They will take financial advice on what to do with their money from the sale. The obvious thing is a life insurance bond off shore to allow income to be accumulated off shore and only taxed when brought in on shore/ or more than 5% brought in. So the little landlord won’t have to do any tax refurns whilst the money is not brought in and it can accumulate compound growth nicely. They can ensure to keep any money bought in at the 5% value.

The properties will get snapped up by large investment companies who will borrow huge amounts from off shore parents companies to diminish any returns. The upshot is that the small landlord will not pay any tax as their money is accumulating growth tax free. The corporate landlord will not pay tax due to a huge off shore loan. So imagine the little landlord had been paying £6000 to 8000 tax on their rental income that is now gone.