Opinion: Forget the landlord exodus – this is service failure

“It’s easy to blame the Renters’ Rights Act, taxation, mortgage costs and ever-complex regulation. Those pressures are real, but they don’t tell the whole story.”

According to the Government’s English Private Landlord Survey 2024, 31% of landlords were planning to reduce their portfolios during the following two years, including 16% who intended to sell everything. Only 7% planned to grow.

“But calling this a “landlord exodus” makes it sound inevitable, as though agents are powerless to influence what happens next. They are not.

Many landlords are leaving because nobody has shown them how to stay profitably, restructure an underperforming portfolio, reduce their risk, or exit in a properly planned way.

That is not simply a market problem. It’s a service problem.

One branch within my own agency, Concentric Lettings, has grown its managed stock by more than 25% organically while other agencies have been losing properties. That doesn’t mean every landlord can or should be persuaded to remain in the sector. It proves that significant growth is still available to agencies willing to serve landlords differently.

Why landlords are really leaving
The RRA has undoubtedly increased their concern. Section 21 has gone, assured tenancies have become periodic, possession procedures have changed, rent increases are more controlled, and more measures are still being implemented.

But legislation is only one part of the pressure they’re facing.

Some landlords are highly geared and have been hit by refinancing costs. Others are dealing with rising repairs, insurance, and compliance costs. Some own properties that have appreciated a lot, but now produce a poor return on equity. Others are approaching retirement and have never been helped to create an orderly five-year exit plan.

And then, there are some who aren’t actually leaving property investment. They’re selling the wrong property, moving money into a better-performing area, or changing how they manage their portfolio.

Yet too many agents treat all of these landlords exactly the same. They send them the same generic newsletter, offering the same management package and only contact them when something needs signing, fixing, or paying for. That is no longer enough. Not even close.

Agents need to understand which landlords are at risk of leaving, and why.

The regulation-fatigued landlord is frightened by what they’ve heard about the Renters’ Rights Act but has never received a personal explanation of what it means for their property or tenancy

The financially squeezed landlord has rising mortgage and maintenance costs, but nobody has reviewed the rent, expenditure, yield, or long-term viability of the property

The underperforming portfolio landlord may own substantial equity but receive a weak return. Selling on poor-performing property and reinvesting smartly could keep them in the market

The quiet exit-planner landlord intends to sell over the next few years but has no plan for timing, tenant management, presentation, tax advice or disposal

The DIY defector is moving to self-management or a cut–price competitor because the existing agent has failed to demonstrate why full management is worth paying for

Every one of these landlords is reachable… But only if the agent starts the right conversation before the landlord serves notice or lists the property elsewhere.

Stop trying to save every property
It’s not about persuading every landlord to keep every property. Sometimes selling is absolutely the right decision. But the objective should be to make sure the landlord never needs to leave the agency’s ecosystem.

If they want to remain invested, an agency should be helping them to improve performance, review rents, plan necessary works, reduce compliance risk, and identify stronger investment opportunities.

And if they need to restructure, agents should be helping them sell the wrong property and buy the right one. Using on-market and off-market opportunities and introducing qualified tax, mortgage, and financial advisors where regulated advice is needed.

Many landlords are selling not because there’s anything wrong with the property itself, but because of how it’s owned. Holding a mortgaged portfolio personally, rather than through a corporate structure, has become tax-inefficient – largely down to Section 24, which taxes personal landlords on their mortgage interest while corporately owned properties escape the same hit.

As a result, it often makes more sense for these landlords to sell, with the property then bought by another landlord operating through a corporate structure – one better placed to hold it tax-efficiently.

If they genuinely want to exit? Help manage the exit properly by planning the timing, preparing the tenancy and property, handling the sale and, where possible, introducing another investor who will retain the property as managed stock.

A landlord selling up should not automatically mean the agency loses the client, the sales instruction and the management income.

Handled well, the outgoing landlord becomes a sale client, the incoming buyer becomes a new landlord client, and the property remains under management.

That is what serving the full landlord lifecycle looks like.

The opportunity is already in the database
Most agencies believe they need more leads, yet they’re sitting on years of landlord, vendor, valuation, let-only and old enquiry data that they barely contact, if at all.

That’s a huge opportunity. Not another monthly newsletter filled with legislation updates, but with specific, congruent, personal and purposeful communication.

Right now, agents should be identifying landlords who may need an RRA review, a rent and yield assessment, a portfolio restructuring conversation, a managed-service upgrade, a tenancy MOT or a property planned exit.
And once identified? It should be supported by intelligent email nurture, text outreach, AI-assisted calling and targeted campaigns. The technology is only the delivery mechanism, but the real value is the conversation and solution being offered.

The traditional management package is no longer enough
For decades, many agencies have sold landlords one of three things… Tenant-find, rent collection, or full management.

But landlords’ problems are now much broader than those three packages.

A modern agency must be capable of helping landlords retain, rescue, restructure, grow, and eventually exit their portfolios. They should demonstrate the financial and operational value of full management rather than assuming their landlords will continue to pay for it – because many of them won’t, if they’re not shown the ‘why’.

And one important thing many agents often overlook is the new pressures that come with every new compliance responsibility they take on. Far too many absorb every new responsibility without reviewing their fees, which is only going to narrow the gap. If the service now carries greater expertise, workload, and risk, it should be explained, evidenced, and priced accordingly.

The agencies that struggle will be those that continue operating the old model while waiting for the market conditions to improve.

And those who will grow will understand that the landlord is not merely a management fee attached to a property… They’re a client with financial objectives, changing circumstances, and a journey that might span 20 years.

So not every landlord’s exit can be prevented. But losing the landlord relationship, the sales instruction, the replacement investor and the future management opportunity often can.

The landlord exodus is very real, but for forward-thinking agencies, it’s also one of the biggest service and growth opportunities our industry has seen.”