Will tenants miss the small landlord?

We all know there’s no ribbon-cutting ceremony when a landlord decides not to put up rent to help a tenant struggling with bills.

Perhaps there should be, given how little attention those decisions receive until the landlord making them decides to sell.

Property118’s latest landlord survey found that 35.8% of respondents with one to three properties had made no rent increase in the previous year, compared with 16.4% of those with 10 or more.

These are self-reported findings from the site’s readers, not a representative sample of every landlord.

Nevertheless, smaller landlords were more than twice as likely to have held rents which should be applauded given that Rightmove now says that advertised rents have blown through the £1,400 barrier.

Now that, I think, deserves attention from anyone concerned about affordability, including those pushing for rent controls.

Keeping rents down

It’s also time to salute Property118 supporter Mick Roberts who puts a human voice to the question of how long such landlord restraint can last.

When so few landlords put their heads above the parapet, he describes modest increases for tenants paying below prevailing market levels, alongside mounting costs, paperwork and anxiety.

Now he is reconsidering properties he had expected to keep.

He has written to tenants saying: “Some of your homes I always thought I would never sell to you or anyone, but if you have anyone that wishes to buy to keep you in, please talk to me.”

Who, exactly, do policymakers expect to answer?

Spain offers an uncomfortable example of what can happen when tenants lose confidence in the businesses providing their homes.

The BBC has reported protests against investment firms described by demonstrators as ‘vulture funds’, with tenants blaming them for unaffordable rents and insecurity.

Obviously, Spain’s experience doesn’t prove that Britain is heading towards the same outcome.

But it raises a question we should ask before more landlords decide they have had enough: will our replacements offer tenants a better rent deal?

Who provides affordable homes?

Corporate money is certainly arriving and Savills reports that £4.2 billion has been invested in the UK’s build to rent sector during the first nine months of 2026.

That is a record for that stage of the year, and it also includes development funding and purchases of existing portfolios.

Equally, investment figures tell us nothing about whether Mick’s tenants could afford the homes being provided.

Replacing small landlords with larger businesses is not, by itself, an affordability policy.

A small landlord may accept less rent because a dependable tenant makes life easier.

Avoiding an empty property, advertising and uncertainty has value.

Sometimes there is also a longstanding relationship and a reluctance to upset an arrangement that works.

Those decisions need room in the budget. They also need someone willing to carry on.

Mick’s message contains another sentence: “I can’t carry on with these threats.”

Those words must reflect the frustration of many small landlords, and his interpretation of potential landlord penalties isn’t one to be ignored.

We should also not ignore the exhaustion behind those words.

Tenants will miss small landlords

Let’s face it, a landlord sale does not make a house disappear.

It can, however, remove a home from the lettings market or bring in a landlord with different costs and expectations.

There’s no guarantee that the previous rent will survive.

Ministers should welcome new homes while asking how to retain landlords whose tenants already have an affordable one.

At the risk of sounding like a stuck record, tenants will miss small landlords when we have left the private rented sector.

So, to our critics, I say before celebrating another landlord’s departure, ask what rent the next tenant will have to pay.

Until next time,

The Landlord Crusader