The Renters’ Rights Bill is now in report stage in the House of Lords, but almost half – 48% – of UK landlords have made no preparations, new research shows.
Typically, small landlords are more likely to be unaware of the Renters’ Rights Bill and less likely to have made any preparations than professional landlords, according to flatshare site SpareRoom, which carried out the study.
SpareRoom survey of 821 UK landlords in May 2025:
| Landlords | Plan to leave the rental market | Plan to reduce portfolio | Plan to invest in holiday / short-term lets | Plan to expand portfolio | Unaware of Renters’ Rights Bill | Made no preparations for Renters’ Rights Bill |
| All UK | 29% | 25% | 3% | 9% | 7% | 48% |
| UK with 1-2 rental properties | 40% | 9% | 4% | 6% | 11% | 53% |
| UK with less than 5 rental properties | 33% | 18% | 4% | 7% | 11% | 52% |
| UK with 5-9 rental properties | 22% | 35% | 4% | 10% | 3% | 48% |
| UK with 10+ rental properties | 26% | 34% | 1% | 13% | 1% | 36% |
| All London | 34% | 26% | 2% | 9% | 7% | 53% |
| London with 1-2 rental properties | 43% | 11% | 1% | 5% | 7% | 55% |
| London with 5+ rental properties | 36% | 36% | 1% | 7% | 0% | 49% |
SpareRoom asked the 51% landlords who had made some preparations ahead of the passing of the Renters’ Rights Bill what they had been doing. Almost a third (32%) of UK landlords and a quarter of London landlords said they have increased rents. Close to a fifth (19%) of UK landlords and 17% of London landlords say they have improved property standards. And around a quarter (24%) of UK landlords are looking at how to cover themselves financially against legal claims and unpaid rent.
Fewer small landlords in the flatshare market would affect renters financially, and not just because of reduced supply. Of those who have made preparations ahead of the Bill, 45% of landlords with 5+ properties have increased rents, compared to just 18% among small landlords with one to two properties.
Meanwhile the flatshare market is seeing no signs of a landlord exodus, yet.
So far, supply in the room rental market remains largely unaffected by the Renters’ Rights Bill, according to SpareRoom, with January 2025 the highest month for flatshare ads in four years. Between Jan-Apr 2025 inclusive, both the number of landlords using the site, and the number of ads placed by landlords, were up 11% on the previous year. Supply has been trending upwards since early 2022.
In a February 2025 survey of 942 landlords, two-thirds (67%) said they planned to either leave the rental sector altogether, reduce their property portfolios, or move into short-term/holiday lets. But in a repeat survey in May, this figure had dropped to 57%.
Landlord confidence has increased slightly. In February, 88% of landlords had no confidence in the market, by May this had fallen to 76%, though London landlords are more pessimistic: 82% have no confidence.
Small landlords are still a concern, as they may be more likely to exit the market than professional landlords. Four in 10 UK landlords with one to two rental properties say they plan to leave the market compared to 22% of those with five to nine properties and 26% of those with 10+ properties.
Matt Hutchinson, director of SpareRoom, commented: “It would seem any impact on rental supply is likely to come after the Renters’ Rights Bill passes, when the changes kick in and landlords react. Professional landlords are more proactive than small landlords, but that proactivity is still too low – almost half of all landlords have made absolutely no preparations at all.
“Whatever your views on the Bill, change is coming and with very few alterations to what has been proposed, so now is the time for landlords to get on the front foot, gather knowledge, and get ready. Fortunately, awareness is high, but even 7% of landlords in the dark is too many.”
Just what can landlord’s do to prepare for the RRB that is not already a legal requirement? A suggestion is that rents should be moved up to market values in advance but as I understand it while annual rent rises may be limited (who knows) you will still if you wish raise rents up to market value. (subject possibly to tribunal but that is already the case).
There will be a registration scheme for landlords and an ombudsman scheme and possibly decent home inspections to fund but we have no idea what they will involve and how and when they will be implemented and how much they will cost or if they will be tax deductible. Apparently many tenants are not aware of the RRB and i’s implications. Maybe we should warn tenants that more undefined costs will be coming their way and if they don’t like it they should tell their MP. I suppose we could also inform tenants about the proposed EPC changes the typical scale of cost and how much they will save in energy bills and (as I believe) that Landlords will be now be able to recover these costs from tenants in increased rents. Then tell them they have the right to decline any EPC upgrade giving them a clear choice. Once the tenant leaves the property must be upgraded to rent it to somebody else. At that point many landlords will just sell-up rather than spend the money which in some cases will be a significant percentage of the property value especially on older properties. Perhaps landlords should evict ASB tenants or tenants who have missed rent payments using Section 21 right now while they still can as it will not get any easier after the RRB.
My suggestion? Sell up, bank the money and sleep easy with no prospect of supplying new boilers and other repair bills to eat into profit or facing a £30,000 fine or rent repayment orders for simple oversights.
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