It’s official: Britain is dismantling its private rented sector
6 days ago | 19 comments
Professor warns Renters’ Rights Act has backfired on tenants
11:05 AM, 9th September 2026, 22 hours ago
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A professor has warned the Renters’ Rights Act has caused changes in the private rented sector which are proving “ineffective or have perverse outcomes”.
Writing in the Telegraph, Tim Leunig, professor of economic history at the London School of Economics, has warned the act has backfired on tenants.
The news comes as a report in the Daily Mail reveals the Act has caused unintended consequences, with tenants struggling to find affordable places to live as landlords sell up.
Stress and uncertainty
Mr Leunig points out the government’s ban on offering more than the asking price for rental properties has been “ineffective”.
Mr Leunig writes in The Telegraph: “Landlords used to advertise flats at a low rent, find a lot of would-be renters, and then force them to bid for it. That was stressful, and people felt pressured into bidding high. That is now banned, and you can see why.
“Unfortunately, as a recent investigation by London Centric has shown, landlords are instead advertising flats at exceptionally high prices. Estate agents then encourage renters to view such flats with the assurance that the landlord will take a lower bid, and then all potential tenants are forced to bid, with a cap at the essentially false advertised price.
“That, it turns out, is legal. The effect, of course, is the same as the previous system: would-be tenants have to bid, with all the stress and uncertainty that entails”.
Finding it harder to rent a home
Under the act, landlords and agents can no longer require several months’ rent upfront.
Once a tenancy agreement has been signed, they may require no more than the initial month’s rent before occupation, although a tenant can voluntarily choose to pay rent early once the tenancy has begun.
Mr Leunig points out that international students and the self-employed have been hardest hit by the changes.
He told The Telegraph: “The self-employed often pay themselves via dividends. This means that they fail credit checks. To overcome that, and to reassure landlords, they often offered to pay a year’s rent in advance. That is no longer legal, and so this group now finds it harder to rent a home.
“The second group is international students, who obviously fail credit checks. Many have parents who have saved in advance, and could and traditionally did, pay for a whole year’s rent in advance. Once more, that is no longer possible, and landlords are shunning such tenants.
“Harming these groups is bad not only for the individuals concerned, but for the country as a whole. Some of those self-employed people will go on to create decent businesses, employing others and creating good jobs”.
The news comes as industry body Propertymark has urged the government to invest in the private rented sector.
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Member Since November 2022 - Comments: 13
10:46 AM, 9th September 2026, About 23 hours ago
If only someone had told the government.
Member Since November 2015 - Comments: 602
10:49 AM, 9th September 2026, About 23 hours ago
Reply to the comment left by Joe Bloggs at 09/09/2026 – 10:41
Wow! That’s crazy. I’m in the North West and our rents and demands were literally stagnant for years, we had to basically take who we could get, especially for one bed flats. Now rents are flying up faster than you can review them and we are having 20 or more decent viewers per vacancy with at least 4 wanting to apply.
Do you think you’re experiencing the fall out from Covid with so much remote working becoming the norm, or do you think it’s been caused by the government interventions that the Torries started? We started seeing a big influx of London renters about that time. Or maybe the perfect storm of both.
Member Since October 2024 - Comments: 14
10:56 AM, 9th September 2026, About 23 hours ago
I agree. This ‘landlords used to advertise flats at a low rent..” is fictitious. Maybe a bad landlord in a shady area. As a landlord in London for 20 years and children as tenants I have never met this and it is highly unlikely an agent would propose this. This is received wisdom. Once said and repeated it becomes the accepted truth.
Member Since March 2015 - Comments: 127
11:08 AM, 9th September 2026, About 22 hours ago
Reply to the comment left by Neil P at 09/09/2026 – 10:16
They can offer to pay upfront…you just can’t ask for it
Member Since June 2013 - Comments: 693 - Articles: 1
11:08 AM, 9th September 2026, About 22 hours ago
Reply to the comment left by Kate Mellor at 09/09/2026 – 10:49
I think the working from home has affected us as all our rentals are near stations so prime rents. but I think this trend is reversing and more hybrid working. more significantly is AI affect and downturn in economy. we used to have lots of new graduate sharers starting out on their careers but no more. and foreign students wont pay for professional guarantor but have no uk guarantors.
there is a huge gap between the hype and reality in London.
Member Since June 2013 - Comments: 693 - Articles: 1
11:11 AM, 9th September 2026, About 22 hours ago
Reply to the comment left by Nikki Palmer at 09/09/2026 – 11:08
bit pointless though as you cant write it into the APT. so they can rename and there is nothing you can do.
Member Since November 2015 - Comments: 602
11:17 AM, 9th September 2026, About 22 hours ago
Reply to the comment left by Markella Mikkelsen at 09/09/2026 – 10:46
I think if you can’t commit to a six month term you shouldn’t be taking on a tenancy. If you’re life has so little certainty, why would anyone think you’d be willing or able to give two months notice??
Member Since June 2013 - Comments: 693 - Articles: 1
11:21 AM, 9th September 2026, About 22 hours ago
Reply to the comment left by Joe Bloggs at 09/09/2026 – 11:11
renege
Member Since November 2019 - Comments: 199
11:23 AM, 9th September 2026, About 22 hours ago
What was the aim of The Renters Rights Act ?
Why were all of comments from the House of Lords advising of the consequences Ignored ?
Member Since May 2018 - Comments: 2493
11:42 AM, 9th September 2026, About 22 hours ago
Reply to the comment left by Paul Essex at 09/09/2026 – 09:30
Professor Leunig is right that labour’s Renters Rights Act has backfired on tenants. But he’s wrong that the self-employed pay themselves dividends…that’s not correct (although he is right that they are disadvantaged by the Act). He’s also wrong that renters were [generally] ‘pressurised’ into bidding above the asking price for a property before the Act came along. What used to happen was that there would be a lot of applicants for any property that came up, renters would then repeatedly fail to secure properties UNTIL they started to bid above the asking price. If some agents told renters that this is what was happening they were just telling renters the TRUTH.
Shortage of rental property is a fact, the truth….much of what is in labour’s Renter’s Rights Act is about fantasy.