Landlords plan rent hikes and exits as rental reforms bed-in
Landlords have moved on from 'wait and see' mode after the Renters’ Rights Act came in, says Matt Trevett from The DPS.
Around two-thirds of landlords are now planning to raise rents in the aftermath of the Renters’ Rights Act, research suggests.
The reforms ended Section 21 evictions, introduced rolling tenancies, and limited rent increases to once a year.
A Deposit Protection Service (The DPS) poll of more than 1,000 landlords, taken just days after the Act was implemented in May, found 68% say they plan to increase rents on some or all of their properties.
However, it is unclear when they plan to do this as only 19% said they would automatically raise rents annually.
Landlords said legislation was the main factor driving an increase in rent, followed by maintenance costs and risks.
Landlord exodus
The report also found that those intending to sell some or all of their portfolio rose from 53% recorded in October 2025 to 56% in May 2026.
Legislation, returns, mortgage costs and retiring were among the main factors behind landlords exiting the sector.
With the new legislation banning charging above market rents, the survey also found that the number of tenants putting in offers above the asking rent stands at 13%, a fall of 3% since its October 2025 survey.
Most landlord will be either keeping or raising rents in the future.”
Among small portfolio landlords with one to two properties, 39% said they don’t plan to make any changes, 31% want to sell everything and 23% want to offload some of their portfolios.
The focus for landlords with larger portfolios is selling some of their properties – at 48% – selling everything at 16%, while 23% said they wont be making any changes.
Matt Trevett (pictured), Managing Director at The DPS, says: “Landlord respondents have been in ‘wait and see’ mode during the lead up to the enforcement date of the Renters’ Rights Act.
“These latest data suggest that most landlord respondents will be either keeping or raising rents in the future.
“Landlords experiencing mortgage and other costs are looking to make use of the rent raising mechanisms specified by the Act.”
My tenants will get an S13 for April to raise the price by the 2% income tax rise and a bit more to cover the £65 a year for the new registration. They will also get a letter to tell them that they would not have had a rise had the government not added these costs.
If they argue these costs they will get a S8 1a. There is a very fine line now for most landlords who are just looking for a reason to leave.
Who could have predicted the Renters Rights Act would have lead to landlords leaving the market, a reduction in rental property supply leading to an increase in prices? Never saw that coming.
The lack of intelligence and incompetence in our current political class is breath taking.
I know, lets bring in rent controls – something that has never worked anywhere – to fix a problem the government created. You couldn’t make it up!
Experience so far is that tenants and landlords do not like the fact they have no fixed term tenants especially are nervous about this. While so far it is only a couple of tenants, despite us sending out the information sheet, are not happy at having to give two months notice they thought that despite signing after 1st May they still only needed one month. Several potential tenants have told us they think it is stupid they cannot offer more than one months rent up front or extra deposit. In short this act seems to not be well liked by landlord or tenant and it is definitely hitting tenants harder as landlords sell up and rents rise.