The Intermediary – March 2026 - Flipbook - Page 41
BUY-TO-LET
Opinion
Renters’ rights: The
impact for landlords
I
n October 2025, the Renters’
Rights Act received Royal
Assent and introduced
changes to strengthen tenant
protection and raise standards
across the sector.
Good news: despite the proposed
changes to legislation, 62% of the
landlords in the latest Landlord
Leaders survey from Rely shared their
optimism at operating in future, up
significantly from 47% in 2025.
Brokers will play a key role in
helping landlords navigate the
legislation, as well as understand
which criteria can help their future
journey go smoothly.
Phase 1: From 1st May 2026
Abolish Section 21 evictions
Introduce Assured Periodic
Tenancies in the PRS
Possession Grounds reform
Limit rent increases to once a year
Ban on bidding and rent in advance
No discrimination against tenants
with children or on benefits
Landlords must consider rentals to
tenants with pets
Strengthen local council
enforcement
Landlord clients are likely to be
increasingly interested in lender
appetite, risk tolerance and exit
strategies. It’s worth brokers speaking
to their BDMs to ensure they’re able to
paint an accurate picture.
New possession rules aempt to
balance tenant protection with the
landlords’ needs. Brokers may find
that this ruling affects short-term
investment strategies and sales
intended for quick turnarounds.
There may be changes to rental
income growth, impacting
affordability calculations and the
number of options when refinancing.
It’s important that brokers speak to
their landlord clients at the earliest
opportunity to help understand the
potential impact, as rental increases
will be more restricted under the
new regime.
Landlords and agents will no longer
be allowed to accept offers above the
advertised rent, or request more than
one month’s rent in advance. This
will have a direct impact on the rental
yield calculations for affordability
assessments, so it’s important that this
is considered before submiing an
agreement in principle.
This is a model that many landlords
are already using, so brokers may
find that this impacts the smaller
‘accidental’ landlords who may be new
to the sector and therefore need more
support in navigating the changes.
These reforms also mean landlords
will no longer be able to discriminate
against certain tenant demographics.
It may fall to brokers to remind
landlords – and reassure lenders –
on the importance of aspects like
insurance, arrears management, or
income stability.
Phase 2: From late 2026
Phase 2 is due to be implemented in
two key stages:
Roll out of the PRS Database – Stage 1
Establish the PRS Landlord
Ombudsman – Stage 2
The PRS Database registration will be
mandatory for all private rented sector
landlords, and they will be required
to pay an annual fee and provide key
information. Stage 2 will enable a
form of public access and sharing of
this database.
The Ombudsman will provide a
resolution service for PRS tenants,
but also support landlords with tools,
guidance and training on handling
complaints from tenants.
The Ombudsman scheme will be
mandatory for PRS landlords, and
they will be required to fund the
service through a charging model yet
to be determined.
It will be important for brokers to
stay ahead of the Phase 2 changes to
SIMON COCKERILL
is group head of intermediary
sales at Rely
ensure they can advise their landlord
clients well in advance of deadlines,
and keep in touch with specialist buyto-let (BTL) lenders such as Rely to stay
ahead of the curve.
Phase 3: Timings yet to come
The Decent Homes Standard will
introduce a minimum standard
of housing quality and provide
local councils with powers to
take enforcement action if PRS
properties fail to meet it.
Extend Awaab’s Law to the PRS,
seing clear legally enforceable
timeframes within which PRS
landlords must make homes safe
where they contain serious hazards.
Brokers could see an increase in
capital-raising remortgages or
further advance requests to fund the
improvements needed to meet these
new Phase 3 standards.
Serious hazards like damp and
mould will need to be investigated
and fixed on much stricter timelines.
This may result in increases to
maintenance costs.
Brokers may also see an increase in
BTL investors who rely on refinancing
to fund these projects. The Landlord
Leaders study shared that just over
50% of professional landlords are
using their savings to fund energy
improvements.
Lenders may start to introduce
stricter due diligence, and the
involvement of accidental landlords in
the PRS may decrease.
Understanding the regulations
and compliance that comes with BTL
lending will become part of the advice
investors rely on brokers for. That’s
where specialist lenders can really step
up to the plate. ●
March 2026 | The Intermediary
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