Admin burden and RRA concerns hit landlords and agents – Goodlord

Landlords facing new legal duties are rethinking how they run portfolios as admin demands and cost pressures begin to bite, a new report reveals.

Goodlord’s latest research, ‘Is renting broken?‘, drawing on 2,650 responses from agents, tenants and landlords, sets out the scale of strain building across the PRS.

For agents, 76% say admin is limiting their business, and 20% go further, calling it their biggest operational headache.

For landlords, 59% point to high fees and weak value as their main frustration, with those pressures feeding into decisions about whether to remain or sell up.

Landlords consider future

William Reeve, Goodlord’s chief executive, said: “This report reveals that everyone involved is feeling the pressure.

“Letting agents are overwhelmed. Landlords are considering their options carefully.

“Tenants have largely stopped expecting the system to work in their favour.”

He added: “The UK’s PRS has undergone a significant legislative transition and the Renters’ Rights Act arrived in a sector that was already under significant strain.

“In fact, some reports estimated that 93,000 buy to let landlords – 6% of the overall market – were predicted to sell up during 2025/26 due to increasing regulation and rising costs.

“It is unclear whether or not this so-called ‘landlord exodus’ has fully materialised, but what is certain is that housing supply is not keeping pace with demand.”

Landlords worry about the RRA

The research also found that 82% of landlords are concerned about the Renters’ Rights Act, including 44% who say they are very concerned.

Technology is also not improving work with 55% of agents saying systems either add complexity or make little difference to how they work.

There is also a shift in how landlords approach management with one in five admitting admin is their biggest operational headache may mean the RRA is a catalyst for them using an agent.

Mr Reeve also notes that pressure is growing across the sector from agents dealing with compliance and landlords weighing up their next steps.

He also says that tenants are increasing seeing supply tightening.

PRS undergoing transformation

Mr Reeve said: “We surveyed 2,650 people across the private rented sector.

“What they told us is, at times, uncomfortable reading.

“But it is exactly what an industry facing its most significant transformation in a generation needs to hear.”

He added: “These are problems that can be solved, but questions remain: How will the industry navigate the challenges ahead without progress plateauing?”