Letting agent fees are rising following the introduction of the Renters’ Rights Act, with almost one in four landlords reporting higher costs.
A Goodlord poll of almost 250 UK landlords found that 23% have seen agent fees increase since the legislation came into force.
The findings suggest the reforms are having a wider impact on landlords and the lettings market.
Half of landlords surveyed reported an increased compliance burden under the Renters’ Rights Act.
Meanwhile, one in four (25%) identified difficulties regaining possession from problem tenants as a concern.
The findings follow the abolition of Section 21 evictions under the Renters’ Rights Act on 1 May.
Landlords must now use Section 8 when seeking possession. They must also provide one of the specified legal grounds.
For rent arrears cases, landlords must wait four weeks after serving a Section 8 notice before starting proceedings. This is twice the previous notice period.
Goodlord said court delays could extend the process further. Some Section 8 claims are still waiting for hearings.
Landlords tighten tenant checks
The changes also appear to be affecting how landlords select tenants.
Two in five landlords (39%) said they have introduced more cautious tenant vetting procedures. Almost one in 10 (9%) are investing more in tenant retention to reduce turnover.
Separate Goodlord research has also highlighted concerns about fraudulent tenancy applications.
The company estimates that tenancy fraud costs the private rented sector around £4.1bn each year.
Its research found 41 suspected fraudulent applications per 1,000 between July 2025 and June 2026.
The figures suggest tenant selection and referencing could become more important for landlords and letting agents. Both are adapting to the Renters’ Rights Act and the removal of Section 21.
Nishma Parekh, director of referencing at Goodlord, said: “These findings point to a market where getting tenant selection right the first time is more critical than ever, given how much harder it has become to reverse a bad match once a tenancy begins.”
Comments (8)
Our letting agent has just issued us with a set of new terms of business they want us to sign. It’s obviously not of their own making it must have come from some trade association. Basically, all liability rests with the landlords. Even liability for their own mistakes. They now list a large list of charges for just about everything. They wanted £120 to deliver that stupid tenant letter about the RRA They also want their commission payments to continue if the tenant is in arrears. Just looked at their website they have nothing to let, I wonder why?
Don’t sign, find an independent local agent who will VALUE your business.
…Sounds like you need a new agent!
I provided large-scale AI-supported software solutions for fraud investigation (DWP, HMRC, supranational banks…) before retiring, so I know just how big a problem it is even for the largest government agencies, who you would expect to be able to prevent it. For some reason, despite spending huge sums on appearing to address the problem, for some reason they can’t/don’t/won’t!
So, apart from having been ‘defrauded’ to the tune of £20k+ by a tenant in the past (my agent did the vetting!) I maintain a professional interest.
I tried to download the Goodlord fraud report but their form doesn’t accept ‘normal’ email addresses. Perhaps someone can help. It’s not just agents who need this data!
A minority are increasing fees and those are the agents to avoid. Their costs have not increased although there will be extra work involved in certain aspects of the RRA and those should be priced separately.
Extra work involved, but costs haven’t increased? So man hours aren’t a cost these days?
Everyone has a different pricing structure these days, just choose one that works for best for you.
I’m still waiting for a reply to my email to Goodlord after the Panorama programme.
“So who they honour my rent insurance if they where deceived during referencing”
Which will happen first? You get a reply or the warm place down below gets very cold?