How the Renters’ Rights Act will strengthen – not squeeze – the landlord sector

By Vann Vogstad, CEO of COHO, and Steve Coyle of Cullen Property

With the Renters’ Rights Act (RRA) coming into force on 1 May, there’s been no shortage of noise around what it might mean for landlords. Some are already framing it as disruptive, even destabilising.

But if we take a step back – and look at what’s happened in markets that have already gone through similar reform – a different picture starts to emerge.

This isn’t a system that weakens the private rented sector. It’s one that starts to quietly professionalise it and in doing so, it will strengthen the very landlords and operators across the single let, student and HMO markets who are already doing things properly – we’ve seen this before in Scotland.

When the Private Residential Tenancy (PRT) system was introduced in 2017, and in the years of increased regulation leading up to it, the sector didn’t collapse or stagnate. It evolved.

Importantly, rents didn’t fall or flatten either. Take Edinburgh as an example, Citylets’ data shows that by 2022 average rents in the city for three-bed properties rose by around 70% above their 2010 baseline – almost double the increase in the Consumer Price Index over the same period – before easing slightly the year after.

What’s particularly notable is the timing of the inflection points.

There are clear structural shifts in rental growth and regulatory change across the private rented sector around 2013 – coinciding with EPC changes, custodial tenancy deposit reforms, and increased HMO regulation – again in 2017 with the introduction of the PRT, and again around 2021 when the Scottish Government introduced temporary rent controls in response to Covid.

Some argue that increased legislation could suppress rents over time. But in practice, the opposite dynamic has tended to play out. While costs have increased so have rising quality expectations, driving improvements in stock, and demand has remained resilient for well-managed homes. That aligns with our experience on the ground.

And that’s the lens we should be applying to the RRA – because once you view it this way, the operational implications for landlords and agents start to make a lot more sense.

Raising sector standards

The most immediate change under the RRA is the end of Section 21 and the shift away from routine no-fault evictions.

While that understandably raises concerns for some landlords, the practical effect is quite simple: longer-term tenancies become the default, not the exception and that changes behaviour on both sides.

Landlords who rely on turnover as part of their model will need to rethink how they operate. But those who already focus on quality, responsiveness, and tenant experience will likely find themselves in a stronger position – the emphasis naturally shifts towards retention, and this is driven by service, not structure.

Tenants are increasingly behaving like customers and increasingly willing to pay more for homes that are well managed, well maintained, and professionally run, as we have seen under Scotland’s PRT system. This is especially clear in student accommodation, where well-managed HMOs attract higher-quality tenants and reduce turnover during academic cycles. While students were previously on fixed-term contracts, under the RRA many will now have rolling tenancies with defined notice periods, typically around two months, meaning landlords need to engage earlier and plan more proactively.

These behaviours tend to lift the whole market, while pushing out substandard operators who can’t or won’t adapt. That’s the real shift here. Not just legal mechanics, but behavioural change.

Operational changes required for agents and landlords

Of course, this doesn’t happen without operational change.

Open-ended tenancies mean landlords and agents need to understand tenant intentions earlier, particularly for student accommodation where turnover aligns with academic calendars.

Landlords must actively manage check-ins, check-outs, and retention planning. That means earlier conversations, better planning, and a more structured approach to tenancy lifecycle management, across the board. It also means compliance becomes even more important, not less.

We’re talking about more robust identity verification across the sector – not just of tenants, but of landlords as well. Know exactly who you are dealing with, confirming that a landlord is correctly named on the title deeds, carrying out clearer verification of ownership structures, completing proper anti‑money laundering checks, and ensuring landlords have registered both themselves and their properties on the new Private Rented Sector (PRS) database, the national government‑backed register.

These enhanced ID checks for all parties, alongside mandatory PRS registration, are no longer optional background administration. They form the foundation of a well‑run rental market, one built on transparency, accountability and confidence, creating the conditions for fewer disputes, stronger relationships and a more resilient sector over time.

Why Ground 4A is not a shortcut or safety net

For HMOs, Ground 4A is a new mandatory possession ground introduced by the RRA to allow landlords to evict tenants from purpose-built or shared student HMOs to re-let to new students. This enables landlords to give tenants prior notice about tenancy terms before tenants move in, ensuring expectations are clear.

However, it should not be seen as a safety net to remove students to replace with new tenants for the start of new terms. In fact, it could deter good tenants who want to stay on past term time. It’s better for landlords to focus their efforts on robust referencing, property quality, and tenant experience to avoid vacant properties and build long-term stability.

The reality is much simpler: performance in this market will be driven by fundamentals – good referencing, well-maintained properties, and consistent tenant experience remain the strongest predictors of void reduction and long-term yield stability.

So where does this leave us? Not with a weakened sector – but with a more defined one.

A market where good landlords are clearer, more visible, and more competitive. And where poor practice becomes harder to sustain over time. That’s the pattern we’ve seen before, and it’s the one we expect to see again.

The Renters’ Rights Act isn’t removing opportunity from the sector. It’s reshaping it, and for those already focused on quality, service, and long-term thinking, it creates more space, not less.