Charity wants rent controls to cut LHA costs and reform landlord taxes

They’d be as well pushing the Govt to look at what they’ve introduced below, particularly over the past two years, as this is why the Landlady is less sympathetical now when looking at rents:

I am really sorry, but please ring me after reading this. The Govt are going too far and now going to fine us £7000 for every boiler certificate I forgot to send to their new database. Even if I’ve done the certificate.
I can’t carry on with these threats.

I’m sending this now so you know my mindset & how this Govt & Council’s are making us ill with unbearable workload. Some of your homes I always thought I would never sell to you or anyone, but if you have anyone that wishes to buy to keep you in, please talk to me.

Below are just some snippets as to what’s going off.

These are the latest changes the Govt has bought in May 2026 the Renter Rights act Renters Rights Bill-They have hurt the majority of tenants, but Govt got more votes off the Renters Groups for bringing them in.
Very long, but all applies to you & your home.

Tenants, Govt has just gave you £33 pm rent increase with rules they said were to protect you

Dear Tenants,
Govt has just bought in yet another charge £65 per year EACH house for property database fee. So you got to have rent increase for that £6pm. Plus 20+ questions, uploading loads of forms, an hour each house, & then updating the database throughout the year whenever a change, boiler certificate etc. And if u forget to upload a new (even if you’ve done it and got it) EPC, Landlady gets fined £7000. Tenants in London love to hear this. You sensible people in Nottingham know it makes your Landlord want to sell.

All this information needed for the property database, the Council already have for your Selective Licensing, who already charge £1000 every 5 years, so £200 per year, so you got £20 pm rent increase for that.

Previously we could just agree between ourselves if rents were £1000 & you were paying £750, you could agree verbally to £775 or £800. Well Govt has put a stop to that costing you again. Govt has said all rent increases must be done by Section 13. Letting agents cost £75 to do this, so that’s another £7pm. Some Letting Agents charge £250+VAT to issue a Section 13 which is £25pm on top of your rent increase.

So before we even get a little rent increase to pay for all inflationary increased costs, you’ve got £33pm which is going straight on the Govt charges.
This is without the extra admin we’ve got 4am office starts 9pm finishes. So no longer small rent increases I’m afraid, we got minimum £83pm before we start.

I could go on & on if some Media outlet would finally tell the truth & put it all out there, cause tenants that had no problem (80%) are really hit hard by all these Govt & Council changes.

A colleague wrote this out:

The regulatory and administrative burden has changed hugely over the years.

When I first started renting properties back in 1989, things were incredibly straightforward. You could go into WH Smith, buy a standard tenancy agreement, photocopy it and get on with letting the property. Today, the paperwork and compliance surrounding a single tenancy can run into hundreds of pages once you include tenancy documentation, deposit protection, EPCs, gas safety, electrical inspections, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, right to rent checks, prescribed information, licensing requirements, certificates, notices and all the other documentation and administration that has accumulated over the years.

And it is not just the paperwork. There are now countless additional costs, licences, inspections, certificates, software requirements, professional fees, compliance costs, council charges and taxation changes that simply did not exist when many of us started out.

Making Tax Digital is another example. Landlords who fall within the current threshold now have to maintain digital records and use compatible software, with quarterly reporting requirements to HMRC. HMRC itself confirms that landlords may face additional software, accountancy, training and administration costs as a result.

The electrical safety regulations alone now require inspections at least every five years, with reports having to be provided to tenants and councils when requested. Gas safety checks are annual, EPC requirements have been introduced, smoke and carbon monoxide alarm requirements have expanded, and licensing and other local authority requirements can add substantial further costs.

So Mick’s £83 figure is really only scratching the surface. There is a much bigger story here about the cumulative cost of regulation, taxation, compliance and administration, and ultimately a significant proportion of those costs inevitably find their way into the cost of renting.

I honestly think someone needs to sit down and produce a proper historical comparison of what it actually cost to let a property in 1989 compared with what it costs today. I suspect the difference would be quite staggering.

I’ll keep putting this on when people wonder why rents keep going up.

I will add to this list as I remember more.

Keep spreading these words please.

WhyTenantsCan’tGetHouses

A background to why you tenants are paying extortionate rents and can’t get anywhere unless you earning a cracking wage-Blame the Govt and Councils you vote for because you like it when they give more regs & rules to the Landlord-Guess who pays for this? You do.

2015 George Osborne introduce Section 24, fully implemented by 2021, where your rent can be £1000, your mortgage £700 & you still lose money on the house due to the bizarre Tax rules introduced-Look it up, it’s that mad, 6 year old kids say That can’t be right. Too late when you’ve already bought the house in personal name.

They wanted Pet deposits banned.
Cause we’d want £100 more in case dog did damage.
End of tenancy, dog did no damage, tenant got all deposit back.
2019 you banned higher pet deposits cause some tenants didn’t like it when dog did damage & didn’t get their deposit back.
We stopped taking pets.
2024 MP stood up in Parliament and called for Pet deposits to be reinstated cause tenants with pets couldn’t get accommodation.
You couldn’t make this up.
Description here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u54ouYTdNr7WaCPYW18Q_tZdlJr8-VwSUJpE0IcPf5k/edit?usp=drivesdk

They don’t want Landlords helping tenants with Benefits and they bought in Universal Credit which has zero communication with Landlord- We now don’t take Benefit tenants.

They bought in Selective Licensing on good Landlords with good houses. We put the rents up to cover it and now don’t take risky tenants.

Landlord can get fined £30,000 if tenant takes battery out smoke alarm and Landlord CAN’T prove that tenant did it.

Landlord can get fined £30,000 if renting 1 bed flat to single person and he/she moves his/her partner in unbeknown to the Landlord if the Selective License only has license for one occupier.

They started fining Landlords £5000 if they didn’t check tenants passport properly on Right to Rent checks-Landlords stopped taking anyone that had the slightest chance of being illegal immigrant. Innocent UK citizens suffered.

2015, they bought in that if Landlord CANNOT PROVE he/she has gave tenant boiler certificate, you can never get your property back. Even if had a new boiler 5 years later, Judge says Not bothered, u not having your house back. This helped the current bad tenant, hurts the next 100,000 tenants waiting for a home. A purely Anti Landlord measure to stop Landlord getting rid bad tenant or having his house back.

Oct 2024 Unison now wants a rent freeze. Ooh are we a charity are we? What other individual who sells or provides something is told YOU CANNOT charge a price u wish?

Oct 2024 the Renter Rights Bill is going to make it law, u can’t do rent increase unless use Section 13. Now for years, I’ve agreed informally with tenant ‘Ok £25 a month, u still £200pm now below anyone else.’ Job done.
Now, I’m totally full up with paperwork and rules and regs. I have no more time. Section 13 some more say only a few mins. It’s still 30 mins by time printed, filled in, signed, scanned, sent. Each one when u have lots of houses on top of Selective Licensing INSISTING we inspect each house every 4 months (two weeks solid just on inspections every months) is taking me over the edge. My existing tenants are going to have to go with Letting Agent who charge £300 for a Section 13. That’s £25pm extra on the rent. Along with the extra £100pm Letting Agent fee which gets rid of cheap rent was charity. I was only going to charge £25 pm increase. I now have to charge £50pm to get the £25pm charge back the Govt has caused.

Sep 2024 Ed Miliband MP wants all houses to EPC C which will cost Landlords £5000 and increase tenants cheap rents. As soon he announced this, he made more tenants homeless. Few words on that here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eI7z29SNRCDLLwX6_0QQChrwTxZ4jGZw4UNybVYfD1s/edit?usp=drivesdk

Section 24 Tax bought in by George Osborne of the Tories who said it will only affect 1 in 5 Landlords-That’s over 2 million tenants put at risk of homeless. Landlords with tenants of 25 years are now being made homeless on this one action alone.

Oct 2024 I’ve heard there’s a part of the RRB that says we must give tenants our home address on paperwork.
Details of that here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v7aETrvz0j6CdS7LZwYukthZAbhNxLWRKR8qShi6Gok/edit?usp=drivesdk

Aug 2025 RRB

Aug 2025 Making Tax digital

Aug 2025 RRB getting rid of Section 21 so u can’t get rid of bad tenant which would help a good tenant get the house.

Aug 2025 NI on rental income, another retrospective change after you’ve already housed the tenant and agreed to keep their rent lower than others.

Feb 2026 RRB making us register every property & pay-As well as Licensing-On houses many of us don’t want & only keeping for tenants anyway.

I’ll keep saying it to hope some common sense MP takes this up and actually wants to help tenants, and not getting votes hurting Landlords:

April 2026 Govt now fining us £7000 each tenant for every RRA act letter we cannot prove we’ve gave to the tenant-In ten years time. We get fined £7000 for an admin error for a letter the tenant can get off the internet just like we have to. This time Govt gone too far. We Housing Providers. Many of us don’t want the houses & only keeping for the tenant. And you want to fine us £7000 for an error where no one has got hurt?

£7000 for a paperwork error each tenant & even if you have gave em the sheets, if you lose your proof, you’ve had it. I can stab someone & get less. Parking ticket £60. No car insurance £200. Letter that tenants not bothered about £7000?

I tell me Landlord mates in the gym, they can’t believe it. I say It’s really easy, go on Google put £7000 fine Landlord in. They come back next day & say Wow cannot believe it, I would never have never known, that’s it, I’m selling.

I bike Sundays with 10-15 lads. Some have houses, I tell them, they flabbergasted, they had no idea.

I’ve got several expensive (for Nottingham) nice bungalows nice areas I was maybe never gonna’ sell. I’m even selling them now if/when the tenant should ever leave. Govt gone too far now. Renters group love it, but someone please tell em, they’ve now voted for something that’s made their houses more expensive & cut supply. My tenants understand fully what the Govt & Councils are doing to them, they’ve known for years I wish to sell but they now can’t get anywhere any more. All started since George Osborne Sec 24 2015, then Selective Licensing 2018, then UC, the list goes on.

April 2026 the ICO data fee we have to pay every year just so we can give the tenant the plumbers number when they have a leak gushing out.

May 2026, can only issue rent increase by Section 13 when previously could agree verbally with tenant and if rents are £1000, and tenant paying £775, they’d normally agree to £800 job done. Now Govt say must be done by Section 13, I’m getting older and the ever increasing paperwork is frying my brain. Letting agents charges £300 to do a section 13. That’s the rent increase gone on admin, so you have increase more than £25pm-Tenant loses again. Well done Govt.

Aug 2026
Govt has just bought in yet another charge £65 per year EACH house for property database fee. So you got to have rent increase for that £6pm. Plus 20+ questions, uploading loads of forms, an hour each house, & then updating the database throughout the year whenever a change, boiler certificate etc. And if u forget to upload a new (even if you’ve done it and got it) EPC, Landlady gets fined £7000. Tenants in London love to hear this. You sensible people in Nottingham know it makes your Landlord want to sell.

Sep 2026 Govt introduce a property database that is £65 PAID EVERY YEAR EVERY PROPERTY. What does the Govt not understand about that is another £6pm on top of the rent? Who’s benefiting from that?
EACH house for property database fee. So you got to have rent increase for that £6pm. Plus 20+ questions, uploading loads of forms, an hour each house, & then updating the database throughout the year whenever a change, boiler certificate etc. And if u forget to upload a new (even if you’ve done it and got it) EPC, Landlady gets fined £7000. Tenants in London love to hear this. You sensible people in Nottingham know it makes your Landlord want to sell.

Very Good Article Mick ,

Reply to the comment left by Northernpleb at 13/10/2026 – 11:16

Please save all the text & spread in your own editing. People need to know the truth what Govt & Councils have done to tenants using the Landlady’s as the messenger.

How about some tax controls? Food price controls? Insurance cost controls? Clothing cost controls? Petrol cost controls?
Lets go the full hog and become paid up communist party members

No mention of the huge fines LLs face if anything goes wrong. No mention of which homeless people people LLs may have take in due to council powers. No mention of being a LL these days is a risky business. Charity begins at home!

Do these people at JRF actually understand the way NI works?

What about those above SP age where NI is currently no longer payable on earnings?

Will the NI count towards building entitlement to the state pension for LLs without other earned income?

Presumably rental profit will be classed as ‘relevant’ earnings if it’s subject to NI (meaning that it could potentially all be put in a SIPP etc with full tax relief if the LL has earned income or capital to live on).

What about the growing number of Ltd companies holding properties?

I can just imagine the dog’s breakfast of convoluted new rules around this to get it remotely workable to actually raise income.

Anyone outside a third sector organisation would just introduce an income / corporation / dividend tax surcharge on rental derived income and profit if they wanted to add more taxation – Reeves already made a start with next years 2p income tax rise. (But then they would have the sense to realise that removing S24 whilst adding more tax and capping rents would end up with tenants no better – and probably worse – off than they are now with even less properties available).

Hello all,
I wanted to share my thoughts on the ongoing push for rent controls by research foundations and policy groups.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation recently argued that capping rent increases would save the Treasury over £1 billion annually by reducing Local Housing Allowance uprating costs. However, looking at the leadership behind these proposals, there seems to be a huge disconnect with everyday housing providers.

The Group CEO of JRF earns a salary in the £160k–£180k range to lead policy research and housing trust management. Yet the average small landlord—who often self-manages, takes on significant financial risk, and provides homes using their personal savings—operates on modest margins. When inflation and interest rates surge, capping rent increases forces small housing providers into taking losses or exiting the Private Rented Sector (PRS) entirely.

It feels like small landlords are expected to absorb all macroeconomic inflation while policy advocates on six-figure salaries push frameworks that make housing provision unviable for non-institutional owners.
Why doesn’t the ceo of this charity cap his own wages and stops all this hypocrisy. Surely a £30.000 should be more than enough for his post?

What are your thoughts? Are you finding that fellow landlords in your area are choosing to sell up rather than navigate these proposed caps?

Reply to the comment left by Jesus Diaz at 20:58
The JRF is based in York where the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust operates a fair bit of housing, including a care home where my late relative lived for a few years.

One day the detector head of the fire alarm system was replaced in their room and the contractor left the old one behind. The date of manufacture was 1989 – it had been there 30 years. I replaced mine every 10 years – a four figure sum across 5 HMOs.

The ceiling extractor with overrun timer linked to the light failed in the windowless en suite shower room – mandatory to have this under building regs. It took two months to get it replaced, that’s with me firmly reminding the manager each week I visited. When it was replaced it wasn’t linked to the lighting switch on the outer wall by the door that my relative could operate. Just an ordinary on off pull cord type with no overrun that I had to reach up to operate – my relative was practically bent double with arthritis and shuffled along with a walking frame so had no chance.

There really aren’t words I can print to describe these overpaid and utterly clueless types on their inflated salaries (plus another £20k or so in pension contributions on top). Back when these incidents happened Campbell Robb was at the helm of the JRF and the JR Housing Trust on six figures. Where did he arrive from – you guessed, Shelter.

Reply to the comment left by Jesus Diaz at 13/10/2026 – 20:58
Capping rent will cause landlords to exit and that will cause more tenants to become homeless and that will cause misery to tenants with loads of money spent on temporary accommodation. Would the savings worth it?

I’ve recently had to turn away a few prospective tenants due to me no longer taking risks. All of them, their landlord was selling up.