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 June 2013 - Comments: 713 - Articles: 1
4:53 PM, 12th September 2026, About 3 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by The_Maluka at 12:30
we are fussy too. yes we could rent out our voids at any time but would we get paid???
btw we get a lot of applicants who sound ok and keen and never hear from them again! no idea what thats about?
Only about 5% get a viewing which is ridiculous but there is a lot of dross and scammers out there.
Member Since May 2015 - Comments: 2325 - Articles: 2
7:00 PM, 12th September 2026, About 3 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Joe Bloggs at 12/09/2026 – 16:53
The irony is that before the RRA many of us would take a chance with a less than perfect applicant knowing that there was a remedy is section 21. Now only platinum plated over gold tenants will have a chance.
Member Since May 2018 - Comments: 2535
1:43 PM, 13th September 2026, About 3 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Joe Bloggs at 12/09/2026 – 16:53
Yes….(a) would you get paid (b) since Labours Renters Rights Act if you let the tenant into the property would you be able to get the tenant back out again if you needed to. Better a void period than a squatter and unfortunately the Renters Rights Act creates a lot of potential squatters who could previously be accommodated because before the RRA there was a fall-back.
Member Since September 2026 - Comments: 3
9:02 PM, 16th September 2026, About 2 weeks ago
The operational side of registration is where most landlords will get caught out
Great breakdown of the rolling regional deadlines, Mark. The £65/property charge is manageable, but the real administrative hurdle for landlords—especially portfolio owners and those based overseas—will be pulling together verified safety records, tenancy identifiers, and managing GOV.UK One Login access across multiple joint-ownership setups.
One area many are overlooking is how managing agents will interact with the system versus what remains strictly the landlord’s personal legal responsibility. If your documentation isn’t standardized before your region’s 3-month window opens, the risk of non-compliance fines or delays in serving possession notices later on is substantial.
Member Since September 2026 - Comments: 3
9:13 PM, 16th September 2026, About 2 weeks ago
Overcoming the tenant screening barrier for self-employed applicants
Prof. Leunig’s analysis points directly to the real-world friction point we’re seeing across the private rented sector. Removing the 12-month upfront rent option without introducing an alternative legal risk-mitigation framework has involuntarily locked out self-employed workers and overseas applicants.
To stay compliant without taking on excessive default risk, landlords are having to re-engineer their onboarding workflows—moving toward structured guarantor agreements, refined dividend/bank statement verification procedures, or rent guarantee insurance.
For landlords looking to update their tenant onboarding checklists and legal agreements under the updated rules, there’s a useful set of compliance templates and regulatory breakdowns available on amazon -The Complete Renters’ Rights Act 2025 Compliance Blueprint: The Practical 2026 Guide for Private Landlords in England (UK Property & Landlord Series) that help streamline applicant vetting while staying fully compliant with the new legislation.