It’s official: Britain is dismantling its private rented sector
4 weeks ago | 20 comments
Professor warns Renters’ Rights Act has backfired on tenants
11:05 AM, 9th September 2026, 3 weeks 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 May 2018 - Comments: 2532
9:44 AM, 11th September 2026, About 3 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by The_Maluka at 11/09/2026 – 09:31
Quite so. But the fact is that at present if a [working age] benefits tenant turns out not to be eligible for benefits the housing benefits people come and try to get the money back off the landlord, who has no powers to check eligibility. So why would anyone want to take working age benefits tenants? The anti-discrimination clauses in labour’s Renters Rights Act don’t make any difference because the act itself makes working age benefits tenants even higher risk than they were before.
The government already knows that and it hasn’t fixed the problem: The problem is incompetence, dishonesty, bad policy and poor governance.
Member Since January 2015 - Comments: 1602 - Articles: 1
9:50 AM, 12th September 2026, About 3 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Neil P at 09/09/2026 – 10:16
But you still can have rent in advance IF, after the initial one month payment in advance on signing, 1 day after the tenancy is commenced the tenants give you a written request to pay 3/6/12 months in advance “to assist with their budgeting their finances”. You accept in writing, bank the rent in advance and give them a receipt. All RRA compliant and legal. Simple.
Member Since June 2013 - Comments: 713 - Articles: 1
10:28 AM, 12th September 2026, About 3 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Judith Wordsworth at 12/09/2026 – 09:50
simple but useless as the APT cannot incorporate these terms!
Member Since May 2015 - Comments: 2325 - Articles: 2
10:46 AM, 12th September 2026, About 3 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Joe Bloggs at 12/09/2026 – 10:28
Joe & Judith, the simple solution is not to take any tenant who poses even the slightest risk. This means no benefit tenants, although you must give them the opportunity to see the property and be referenced, It is a pity that this will result in fewer benefit tenants being housed but that is what the government wanted
No foreign visitors, perhaps students, who would normally pay a year up front for a one year contract. It is a pity that the universities are going to sufffer from lack of overseas students, but that is what the government wanted. It is a pity that the invisible exports will be a little bit worse than before the act, but that is what the government wanted.
No young couple without a renting record, they will have to live with parents. It is a pity that they cannot set up home independantly but that is what the government wanted.
No homeless people, but that is what the government wanted.
With the RRA the government has indicated its wishes and the PRS must respond appropriately.
Member Since June 2013 - Comments: 713 - Articles: 1
11:02 AM, 12th September 2026, About 3 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by The_Maluka at 12/09/2026 – 10:46
and the consequence too is longer voids and less tax take. we have now had voids for several months.
Member Since May 2014 - Comments: 101
11:57 AM, 12th September 2026, About 3 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Judith Wordsworth at 12/09/2026 – 09:50
All well and good IF on day 2 they ask to pay 6 months rent in advance. But what if they don’t, even if you’ve verbally agreed it (which is all you can do). You’ve signed up tenants that failed referencing and they can do what they like. I’m not prepared to take that risk. So they’ll have to find another landlord willing to take the risk, or stay with parents. Nobody wins.
Member Since June 2013 - Comments: 713 - Articles: 1
12:07 PM, 12th September 2026, About 3 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Judith Wordsworth at 12/09/2026 – 09:50
you say its ‘legal’, but not legally enforceable! so simply useless.
Member Since October 2023 - Comments: 98
12:08 PM, 12th September 2026, About 3 weeks ago
It’s a fascinating change. They have taken the Private Rental Sector, removed all profit from it and made all the suppliers want to exit because there is no margin in it. At least the Greens were honest enough to say that’s what they wanted to do.
And it has made the situation worse for the very renters they claim to be trying to help
Member Since May 2015 - Comments: 2325 - Articles: 2
12:30 PM, 12th September 2026, About 3 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Joe Bloggs at 11:02
I too have voids, but not for want of applicants. Every advert leads to at least twenty applicants most of whom would not pass referencing. I give all suspect applicants a ten page application form (by email) and rarely get a reply. Genuine applicants, those with a job (nasty three letter word) are professionally referenced and if they pass will be offered a property. Anyone with a CCJ, even if satisfied, is rejected as is anyone with a credit score less than the national or local average. Some get very uppity about being refused, they are just the tenants to be avoided.
Member Since May 2015 - Comments: 2325 - Articles: 2
12:34 PM, 12th September 2026, About 3 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Tim Peters at 12:08
I do not believe the RRA was ever about helping tenants, it was about driving landlords out of the market so that hte CGT could be collected. No government genuinely cares about the homeless, all it cares about is the next voting cycle.