Sky News Section 21 story suggests a deeper problem to me
Did you see the recent Sky News coverage that linked to Property118? It was about landlords rushing to serve Section 21 notices before the 1 May changes.
When a significant legal change is approaching, it is only natural that some landlords will focus on what can still be done before the new rules take effect, but I believe the Sky News story, and many others like it, point to something much deeper. For many landlords, the real issue is not simply whether Section 21 can still be used in time; it is whether their property business, as it stands today, still works for the next phase of life, family responsibility, and risk.
That’s why the Sky News article felt to me like the real story here sits much deeper than just a possession issue. That’s the top of the iceberg in my opinion, and yours too, it seems, based on the recent Property118 landlord sentiment survey. I think the number of s21’s issued recently is really about whether the business still works. What do you think?
From control to continuity
The real question is no longer just whether one legal route remains available; it is whether the business itself is still resilient, manageable, and fit for purpose if circumstances change. That is why, in my opinion, this is beginning to look like more than a possession story.
Many landlords continue operating on assumptions that made sense years ago, but which may no longer reflect current realities. That does not mean the original strategy was wrong; it means the business may now need a different kind of plan.
A portfolio is not always a plan
This is where I believe many landlords get caught out, because owning property is not the same as having a strategy and having equity is not the same as having clarity, and having rental income is not the same as having a business model that still works. A portfolio can have substantial value and still lack continuity, and it can produce income and still create strain.
A rental property business might well represent years of effort and success, yet still leave basic questions unanswered.
- What happens if the owner becomes ill?
- What happens if they die unexpectedly?
- Would a spouse or child know what to do next?
- Would the business continue in an orderly way, or quickly turn into a series of decisions made under pressure?
The loneliness of being a landlord
Landlording can be a lonely profession. Most of us carry strategic, financial, and family pressures without a trusted sounding board. You may well have a broker, accountant, solicitor, and maybe even a letting agent, but lots of landlords I speak to still feel that nobody is previously ever helped them to step back and look at the whole picture in a joined up way.
What most landlords tell me about the realities of working with multiple professional advisers is that the discussions are often fragmented. One conversation may be about tax, another about refinancing, another about tenants, another about wills or succession, and yet another about whether to hold or sell. Very few landlords I’ve ever spoken to have ever managed to find a person like me before who can join up all of this thinking for them.
Asking better questions
If the real issue is one difficult tenancy, then the immediate legal question is exactly the right one, but for many landlords, the pressure is broader than that.
The rush to serve s21 notices, as reported by Sky News, may be linked not only to possession, but also to concern about future regulation, weaker cash flow than expected, financing costs, operational fatigue, retirement planning, succession, legacy or uncertainty about what the portfolio is ultimately for.
When landlords focus only on the immediate legal mechanics, they may miss the larger issue, and for many, the real pressure is not one tenancy, it is that the current business model no longer feels fully aligned with their stage of life. For others, it is the growing realisation that a portfolio built over many years may still have no clear continuity plan attached to it. Doing nothing is also a decision, but rarely a good one.
Landlords now need to ask better, more strategic questions than the headlines alone suggest, and if they don’t know what questions they should be asking, they need to read Property118 a lot more, or arrange a free initial consultation with a specialist landlord consultant like me.
As a Property118 consultant, I have spent many years supporting landlords through changing market conditions, not just by looking at isolated technical issues, but by helping them step back and consider the bigger picture. In practice, these issues rarely sit in neat compartments. Cash flow, financing, continuity, succession, structure, family pressure, and quality of life are often closely connected.
A landlord who thinks they have a tenant problem may really have a strategic planning problem. A landlord who thinks they have a tax problem may actually have a continuity problem. A landlord who feels they need to act quickly may really need to think more clearly. That is why a joined up approach matters.
For some landlords, the priority may be simplification, for others, it may be continuity, or it might also be a desire for stronger cash flow, lower risk, or greater clarity around the next stage. The point is not that every landlord needs the same solution, it is that many landlords now need a more joined up plan than they currently have.
A shift in emphasis
The recent attention on Section 21 may yet prove to be about more than a legal deadline.
It may also be highlighting a wider shift in landlord thinking, from reaction to reflection, from individual problems to overall strategy and from accumulation alone to continuity, clarity, and resilience. In that sense, the real issue is not simply whether Section 21 notices can still be used before the deadline; it is whether the business still works.
If this article has made you question whether your current property business is still fit for purpose for you, your family, or the next stage of life, I would like to help you to step back, assess your wider position, and move from uncertainty to a clearer strategic plan. Sometimes the most valuable decision is not the next tactical move, but taking the time to think strategically before making it.
Kind regards
Swati Sammant-Mayger – Founder Member of Property118 consultancy and your fellow portfolio landlord
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Member Since December 2023 - Comments: 1608
8:00 AM, 24th April 2026, About 3 weeks ago
Absolutely spot on.
As always, Section 21 is a symptom and not the underlying cause of the illness.
The wise landlords escaped years ago. Those of us who remained were just stubborn or had their fingers in the ears.
As Implementation Day approaches, many laid back landlords are realising the impact of the Act. Some have issued Section 21 Notices whilst others, who may be barred from using Section 21 are waiting to use the new Ground 1A of Section 8.
The evictions won’t end on 30th April or even 31st July when landlords must start their possession claims. They will continue when Ground 1A is available from 1st May.
I expect the Press and these pages to be filled with stories of landlords falling foul of the new rules. Reports iof large, disproportionate fines will spur others to use Ground 1A.
The tenants’ misery will go on.
The government will use their massive CGT receipts to buy more votes from welfare-loving layabouts and could secure a second term.
Depressing, isn’t it?
The NRLA fiddles while Rome burns.
Member Since July 2019 - Comments: 3 - Articles: 1
9:56 AM, 24th April 2026, About 3 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Cider Drinker at 24/04/2026 – 08:00
Thank you. I agree with you that Section 21 is just a symptom, and that the real issue lies much deeper. That is why I believe this is the moment for landlords to think more strategically and not just react tactically.
Member Since January 2025 - Comments: 103
3:33 PM, 26th April 2026, About 3 weeks ago
Isn’t the underlying message that the organisations that should have properly represented their members to protect them from government intervention are now positioning themselves to count the bodies and take their cut as the property industry, as we know it, is dismantled – NRLA et al.
Government destroyed the development industry by imposing profit levels at 20% on Gross Development Values over the life of the project even though they calculated that because of the new development regulations the average development takes between 6.3 to 6.7 years from first sight to last sale. That’s the level of respect the government has for the property industry. It was up to the property industry representatives to oppose it but instead they cosied up to housing ministers over cups of coffee.
This is how it will unfold for the PRS:
The Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 already gives qualifying leaseholders a right of first refusal to buy the freehold, with serious consequences for freeholders who fail to comply, including criminal conviction and an unlimited fine.
The Renters’ Rights Act 2026 will depress capital values for properties let under Housing Act 1988 tenancies. The next step will be to graft a similar right of first refusal onto assured tenancies, giving tenants the opportunity to buy before a landlord can sell elsewhere. Government will not describe that as forcing a sale at a depressed value. It will say the price merely reflects the property’s current regulatory burden.
If the tenant cannot, or does not wish to, buy, the right will then be extended to councils, allowing them to acquire those properties at the newly depressed values and grant the tenant a statutory lease.
The model is self-financing. Lenders will readily fund councils where the borrowing is backed by council and government guarantees.
It also solves another political problem. Councils must meet their statutory housing obligations, and housing policy already favours spreading social housing tenants through private estates rather than creating obvious ghettos. This will allow councils to meet those duties while quietly creating the council estates of the future inside existing private developments.
A masterclass in socialist thinking — and with 4 days to go until 1 May 2026 and the last chance to serve section 21 notices for landlords to regain control of their property assets. You still then have until 31 July 2026 to decide whether you want to issue court proceedings or continue under the new rules.
You can complete and issue a section 21 notice for free or pay a specialist a modest sum. It’ll be the highest yielding investment you’ll ever make and this is what you should be advocating – if enough do it it’ll also be the most powerful bargaining chip the property industry could ever have.
It’ll paralyse the court system for years and that paralysis will enable sensible negotiations to be undertaken to moderate the section 21 legislation. That’s what better represented groups do and politically the government will weigh up whether they’d rather have an already destroyed legal system further destroyed and fall into disrepute or remove the section 21 provision.
It’ll also show the government that the court system isn’t able to cope with section 8 notices either. A win for landlords giving you two months to think and no downside. You’ll regret it if you don’t.
Serve your section 21 Notices now.
Member Since July 2019 - Comments: 3 - Articles: 1
9:37 AM, 27th April 2026, About 3 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Person Of The People at 26/04/2026 – 15:33
Thank you for such a detailed comment. I can understand the frustration behind it, and I think many landlords feel that they have been badly let down.
My own point in the article was that Section 21 is the visible part of the problem, but not the whole of it. For many landlords, the deeper question is whether the business still works under the new conditions and whether they are making decisions within a wider strategy, rather than simply reacting to pressure.
I believe this goes much deeper for many landlords than the immediate legal mechanics alone, and I can understand why feelings are running so strong.
Member Since January 2025 - Comments: 103
10:48 AM, 27th April 2026, About 3 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Swati Samant-Mayger at 27/04/2026 – 09:37
Section 21 is not an isolated measure. It is one part of a wider government strategy to nationalise the housing industry while leaving the capital risk and occupational risk in the hands of private landlords.
Government will keep squeezing until landlords finally realise they are no longer in control of their own businesses. At that point, government will take legal ownership at deflated values. Land Registry entries will simply be changed to reflect council ownership, and existing lenders will transfer their loans to the council with a government guarantee. Councils will then grant statutory tenancies to tenants. Why do you think lenders are still lending into businesses that are being systematically dismantled?
Transfer valuations will reflect the enhanced regulatory burdens already imposed, and government will step in to tax any remaining profit. If landlords dispute the valuations, they will have to spend heavily appealing to the Property Tribunal.
Landlords need to wake up. Despite paying membership fees, they have been represented by feeble voices and have never had a seat at the top table. This is ultimately a political game. By dismantling the PRS and coercing it into state ownership, government will gain far more votes from renters and those unable to buy property than it will lose from the PRS.
The PRS has already lost control of its assets. What is happening now is just rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic.
The original reason for investing in the PRS was that it could be easily geared at relatively low, tax-deductible interest costs. Section 24 removed tax relief on buy-to-let mortgages in 2015, but as usual government deferred implementation of a controversial policy for two years, until 2017, to avoid the furore that would otherwise have erupted in 2015. Then, when the effect was felt in 2017, government could dismiss any backlash on the basis that the legislation had already been passed two years earlier.
Government is not stupid. It has departments analysing behavioural economics. Before it imposed empty home council tax premiums, it granted small discounts because it calculated that the cost of the discount for a short period was less than the investigatory cost of identifying empty homes. Property owners queued up like turkeys at Christmas to register empty homes. Now they have no choice but to queue for jobs as unpaid housing officers.
Rather than managing decline come clean about what is actually happening. If you tell landlords the truth, you may gain enough support to become a voice that government listens to.
Member Since July 2019 - Comments: 3 - Articles: 1
5:32 PM, 27th April 2026, About 3 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Person Of The People at 27/04/2026 – 10:48
What I have been seeing in my consultations over the last 5 to 6 months is that many landlords are increasingly concerned about losing control over their properties and distrustful of the direction of travel in the PRS sector, which is leaving them uncertain about what to do next.
That is exactly why I wrote the article: to highlight that the root cause lies much deeper than the immediate Section 21 issue.
My consultations address the practical and technical issues landlords are facing, but in a holistic way that helps them join up cash flow, continuity, succession, structure and long term direction, and move from uncertainty towards a more financially and strategically secure position.
For landlords who feel they are at that stage, the starting point is often a free 30 minute triage consultation to help clarify the next move.
Have you booked your consultation call with me, yet?