The majority of landlords are concerned about the negative impacts of the Renters Rights Act, due to come into force on 1st May 2026.
Aldermore has found, based on a Pegasus Insight survey of 837 landlords, that three quarters expect the act to have a negative impact on them personally.
More (84%) expect the act to harm the PRS more widely.
This is largely due to concerns around how the new law will create potential backlogs in the courts systems for evicting landlords (cited by 91% of landlords), while 88% also flag the negative impact of the recently announced 2% in income tax.
Well over eight in 10 landlords (84%) agree that they’ll need to be more selective about the tenants they let to, while more than seven in 10 (72%) will consider recouping losses by increasing rents.
Apprehension of how the Renters Rights act will impact the sector have already begun to impinge investment forecasts.
The research shows that expectations for rental yields have fallen to a five-year low, with the share of landlords reporting strong tenant demand having decreased.
This percentage has hit 61%, down 7% from the previous quarter and down 16% year-on-year.
However, the majority of landlords are still profitable going into 2026.
The survey, carried out in December and January, found 85% of landlords are deriving profits from their portfolios while only 6% are loss-making.
“The Renters’ Rights Act is being introduced with noble objectives in mind, and the vast majority of the UK’s two million or so landlords will agree that supporting their tenants is a key component of what they do,” said Jon Cooper, director of mortgages at Aldermore.
“However, this research does highlight the tensions many landlords feel when it comes to potential knock-on effects of the act coming into force.
“Maintaining an open dialogue between all parties and assessing the effectiveness of the act as it beds in over time will be of the utmost importance.”
