Why Property118 Is Changing Its Tone

All very laudable if you were dealing with rational conventional economic thinking as seen from a landlords economic model. Sadly and with the utmost respect you’re not. The property industry is in a doom loop. Government ideology is dismantling the current system through tax and more so regulations because regulations don’t hit mainstream news like headline tax rates. For example:

The Competition & Markets Authority (CMA), in its Housebuilding Market Study – Final Report (26 February 2024), published a Development Profitability Analysis (Appendix A) which found that the average housing development takes between 6.3 and 6.6 years to complete, with 2.5 years of that period attributed to construction alone.

Under Section 106, development profits are effectively capped at 15–20% of Gross Development Value (GDV), with any profit above that level extracted by government through increased affordable housing requirements. This profit cap does not take into account the cost of abortive development work on sites that cannot be taken forward, nor the central management and administrative overheads of a development organisation.

When spread over the full development period, that 15–20% represents a lower return on capital employed than could be achieved through a deposit account — and that’s without any of the risks inherent in development. Through this regulatory structure, the government has effectively nationalised the development industry by stealth, while leaving capital exposure and project risk with the private sector.

No other industry carries such high capital and project risk, except perhaps space exploration, deep-sea oil, or mineral mining — yet none of those operate on such low returns on capital employed as property development.

Similarly, landlords have lost control of their properties under recent legislation designed to shift the balance of power toward tenants, even though landlords remain fully liable for the capital asset, maintenance, and compliance obligations.

In its trading update Landsec announced that due to lack of returns it had abandoned four residential schemes mid flight which were planned to deliver 9000 homes. Molior reported that in London 2158 private houses began construction during the first half of 2025 Just 4.9% of the government’s 44,000 half year target.

This is an ideological shift which irrespective of the destruction it will cause is designed to put power and value into the hands of those that don’t have it. It is purely political and a masterstroke vote winner. Before the next election renters will be given the right to buy at the discounted values that taxes and regulations will have inflicted on the property market. The government will announce it has met its 1.5 million new homes target but just not how conventional thinking thought it would. 1.5 million homes will be new homes to renters not new homes in the commonly perceived sense of a new home.

Sadly no amount of reasoned discussion and interpretation of new legislation will make any difference. It just means private landlords will become better housing officers.

The only way to reset the industry is for property industry representative bodies to make robust presentations to government and where it can disrupt government policy. For landowners that means refusing to sell land for development until the government changes and for landlords it means tightening renters criteria until only those who have the means to rent alternative property if the landlord doesn’t repair the leaky pipe are given a rental property. Afterall, landlords are often putting a capital asset into the hands and control of someone forever who would be laughed out of the car rental company if they tried to hire a Bentley at half the value of the property. And if the Bentley is returned with as much as a dog hair on the back seat you’ll see your blocked deposit being used to cover the cost of a full valet.

It is not time to be passive and considered it is time to be counted just like all other collectives, doctors, garbage collectors etc. The government currently puts all these above landlords. Surely this needs to change.

How brave and refreshing to see a digital media platform turn away from the clickbait slope of angry rants that exaggerate fight and flight responses.

The team at iHowz congratulate you and look forward to seeing the community here pull together to move the conversation to one which is more proactive and fact based, where shared knowledge can steer, or be used to challenge, those in power.

As the late Queen said:
“When life seems hard, the courageous do not lie down and accept defeat; instead, they are all the more determined to struggle for a better future.”

Recent years for private landlords may have seemed a mix of “annus horribilis” meets Ground Hog Day, with the prospect of at least another two years as we face rampant licensing, MTD and the implementation of the RRA.

As several posters have said, we are not treated fairly (particularly by Treasury) and councils have shown limited enthusiasm for pursuing criminal operators, choosing the low hanging fruit of licensed landlords.

Yes, there will be challenges as we navigate our way through MTD, implementation of the RRA and (the still unannounced) new EPC requirements.

BUT, those of you who have invested in educating yourself and your team, as well as your properties and systems, are well placed to reap the rewards of higher yields provided by the dual drivers of tighter regulation and the reduced supply of individual homes offered by the PRS.

To those, like me, sitting by the exit with hat and scarf in hand, we have to accept that the cost of licensing may be a price we have to bear while we wait for interest rates to fall further (they are already at long term norms) and some of the RRA uncertainty to dissipate in order to leave with our “pension” retirement plans intact.

Those who are looking to grow their businesses – CONGRATULATIONS – current market prices offer an entry point not seen in a generation with both yields and asset values set to improve due to regulation raising barriers to entry, providing a bigger moat.

As the budget is so close to Christmas, I was tempted to say what a good landlord I’d been as I listed all the things I hoped for in my email to Rachel. The budget on Wednesday may not be pretty, but at least we will have some clarity on whether our tax burden will get (even) bigger.

Well done if you have read this far.

Well done to Mark and his team.

Well done to all of you providing decent homes for those who choose or need to rent.

Reply to the comment left by Rod at 22/11/2025 – 18:13
I look forward to your résumé of how we can use the new act to our advantage.

Great Idea Mark to stop publishing speculation as I have spent the last month blocking FB ads that speculate on what Reeves is going to do on the 26th and have been deleting most landlord based emails as I can’t take it any more. The RRB will strip landlords of any rights that they had left to who can live in their houses. I wanted to keep all of ours for another 10 years or so but am being forced to sell them and kick out the tenants to get a decent price for them. I intend to ignore speculation on how hard the government is going to hit landlords on the 26th and then act on what is the outcome. To be honest, selling all and moving the money overseas will be my best option.

Reply to the comment left by Desert Rat at 23/11/2025 – 02:40
I’m genuinely interested in the point you made about selling everything and moving the money overseas. A lot of landlords are wondering what their own next steps might look like, so it would be really helpful to understand how you reached that view. Are you thinking about reinvesting the proceeds abroad, and if so, what sort of investments or jurisdictions appeal to you?

Only share what you’re comfortable with, of course, but your perspective could give others some useful food for thought.

Reply to the comment left by Desert Rat at 23/11/2025 – 02:40
PS. By way of context to my earlier question, I’m already overseas and most of my liquid funds are as well. I’ve been working with my IFA on ways to bypass the banks so I have more control over how my money is put to work. I don’t doubt that banks need to make a profit, but I’m not always comfortable with the way they lend or invest on my behalf. I prefer putting money into things I understand, mainly property and private financing, where the return feels more connected to real activity rather than a bank’s balance sheet. I’m sharing this only because it might help broaden the discussion about what people choose to do once they extract capital.

Reply to the comment left by Mark Alexander – Founder of Property118 at 23/11/2025 – 08:25
Mark, I have also moved overseas and have lived in Bahrain for the last 25 years.

A couple of years ago my wife’s friend made her buy a book called Millionaire Expat and she started out by investing about 250k her portfolio at the last count was over 440k. It does much better than my / our houses in the UK and she only logs in for a couple of hours 4 times a year. Depending on where you live, it may be worth buying a copy of it.

I’m in the process of signing up to it and have the funds ready to invest. It was going to be another UK rental house but I will not invest any more money in the UK.

Fortunately all our houses are paid for and we don’t have a mortgage to pay.

At least here it’s all tax free. No capital gains tax or inheritance tax.

Just need a tax efficient way of getting rid of our many UK houses.

The next house I buy will be here in Bahrain.

I have a few 100k in Bahrain government bonds that is doing well but will probably be moving some of it in the next year,

I really do not think it’s worth owning property in the UK any more.

The whole RRB is just another attack on the PRS to make us sell up.

At almost 60 I thought I’d keep them for another 10 years before starting to sell up. November 26th is going to be a wake up call for me and I will probably start selling up or at least increasing rents to cover what money the government is going to steal from me.

Was hoping to just sell when tenants move out, but with the RRB this may now change.

Reply to the comment left by Desert Rat at 23/11/2025 – 13:47
If you’re referring to Andrew Hallam, I had the pleasure of meeting him and his wife five years ago. Canadian couple, ex teachers, as I recall.

Reply to the comment left by Desert Rat at 23/11/2025 – 13:47
Is this the book …

https://a.co/d/468fJsI

Reply to the comment left by Mark Alexander – Founder of Property118 at 23/11/2025 – 15:22
Yes it is, a later edition to the 1 I have. It is written by tax advisors and lawyers in the UAE but could help people in other countries. Well worth buying if your thinking of investing in the stock market. Will probably save you a fortune in paying for 3rd parties to manage your funds. Has taken me a while to upload all required docs, hopefully by next week I can start transferring money.