Section 21 - unable to find a rental

[teentoddlermum]

Our landlord has advised he is selling, been renting for 4 years almost and S21 is due imminently. Hes been a good fair landlord and the rent is reasonable for the area - he said it’s under what it should be.

anyway, we cannot find anywhere in our village unless we move town which means move schools ( 2 children ) and we love where we are.

we aren’t in a position to buy yet but maybe next year so there is light at the end of the tunnel.

my husband and I have a good joint income so I know we are lucky in that respect but my god is has hit us like a tonne of bricks, me especially and I’m so sad to be leaving our village.

of course if anything comes up soon then that would be the ideal situation but the thought of moving when 1/ at the moment the rental is so sparse and 2/ the price and conditions of some properties are not nice.

anyone else been in or in this position
I feel it’s consumed me this week

I’ve spoken to all the estate agents, registered and set up right move alerts

thank you for reading

There is seasonality yes, but the article says rental demand is "the lowest at this time of year for 6 years", it also says rental demand is down by a fifth, there is 15% more rental supply and rents are rising at the slowest pace in 4 years.

All part of the swing towards less people coming into the country, visa entries for care workers, students and some other work sectors are way down, some would potentially have lived with relatives but many would have rented.

https://www.communitycare.co.uk/content/news/overseas-care-staff-visa-numbers-down-by-81-over-past-year

Overseas, they are renting for the first time in The UK.
Most of them own property in their home country

New builds are everywhere! I lived in one for 14 yrs.They are over priced,when you come to sell you soon realise,they do not hold value.

It took us those years to sell for £70,000 more than we paid.We spent £10,000 on improvements, whilst living in the property. £10,000 on moving related expenses.£50,000 profit.

My advice do not buy a New build,unless it's built by a private Builder. Do not spend on upgrades.You will not get any more for selling.As the saying goes,worst house,best location! Trust no one!

They are probably not looking for 1 or 2 bed flats in working class areas of the UK?

New build sales are down 60% in some places, Labour are babbling about "building" (again)

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/02/14/labours-latest-vote-winning-plot-to-devalue-your-house/

Sometimes, but you are correct, generally they are looking in the better areas.
Not all though

Less rental in better areas indicates to me that there are less "accidental landlords" wishing to put up with the legislation and cost of being a landlord, they are probably selling, the more basic stuff is likely to be multi-property landlords with BTL mortgages, it is harder for them to exit the market in my view.

I agree
From what I see in the market lots of people with less (fewer?) than 4/5 properties are selling up
To be profitable it has to be run as a proper business, not just an easy way to make some extra money