When the Renters’ Rights Act came into force 100 days ago, people predicted it would break the buy-to-let sector as we know it.
The abolition of Section 21, the end of fixed-term tenancies, a new ombudsman, pet permissions, tenants exploiting the new rules - it would all prove to be too much for landlords who were expected to leave the sector in droves.
Yet 100 days on, the disaster hasn’t happened.
So what has the impact of the Renters’ Rights Act been? And what are people on the frontlines of the sector seeing?
Yes, landlords are leaving
You’ve probably seen the numbers being used to paint a picture of a market in terminal decline.
93,000 landlords left last year. Another 110,000 are expected to follow in 2026. No doubt the legislation has forced some people to exit.
But there’s another set of data that tells a very different story.
66,000 new buy-to-let limited companies were registered in 2025 (an all-time record), up 363% in a decade. More than three-quarters of all new buy-to-let purchases are now made through a limited company. And company formation in 2026 is already running 11% ahead of last year.
The market isn’t hollowing out, it’s professionalising.
The majority of landlords who are leaving are the ones who treated it as a side hustle. The kind of person with one or two properties that they’d bought in their name. And for them, it’s entirely understandable that the weight of red tape has become too much.
But those who remain are different. They’re running their portfolios like a business - incorporated, compliant, and better informed than ever.
What else has changed
The rebalancing of the landlording landscape is perhaps the most seismic change we’ve seen over the past 100 days. But it’s not the only one.
Student lets saw one of the earliest and most visible impacts. When the team from Settio, one of the letting agents we work closely with, came into our office a couple of weeks ago, they told us that on the Monday after the Act went live, 24 tenants served notice. Another 55 followed in the weeks after. Almost all were students whose courses were finishing, and who had no interest in paying rent on a flat they wouldn’t be living in. Previously, landlords got paid through the summer whether tenants were there or not. Now students can simply leave when their studies end - and the entire student lets model has shifted as a result.
Asking rents have also crept up. Before the Act, landlords could let the market set the price - tenants would bid against each other, and the final rent often landed well above the asking price. That’s largely gone now. So landlords are raising their asking rents instead. The logic is straightforward: if you can no longer accept offers above the asking rent, you set the asking rent higher to give yourself some leeway.
But as far as we can see, that’s about it. No surge in possession claims clogging the courts, no wave of tenants exploiting the new rules, no mass exodus.
The view from the front line
We don’t see everything, though (no matter how much we try to). So we asked some of the partners that we work closely with to tell us how the first 100 days of the Renters’ Rights Act has impacted them.
Laura Balme, Head of Property Management, Settio:
“I think the biggest takeaway is that the impact of the Renters’ Rights Act has been far less dramatic than many anticipated…
As expected, we saw an initial spike in notices during the first couple of weeks of May, which led to a particularly busy July and August, but that surge quickly settled. Looking at the numbers, we completed 266 checkouts between 1st May and 31st July in 2025, compared with 279 over the same period this year. Considering our managed portfolio has grown over the last 12 months, tenant retention has remained reassuringly strong.
The biggest operational change has been around planning. Without fixed tenancy end dates to work from, forecasting workloads has become much less predictable, so we’re relying far more on live data than ever before.”
Nathan Hemming, Director, Vision Properties:
“The biggest concern we heard from landlord clients in the lead-up to the Renters’ Rights Act was that they could have multiple tenant changes in a year costing them more in fees, cleaning and maintenance.
In the first month following the introduction of the Renters’ Rights Act, we did see a spike in the number of tenant notices, mostly from tenants whose situation had changed - a relationship had broken down, or they were relocating for work. The Renters’ Rights Act has given them the flexibility to move earlier than they would have been able to before with a fixed-term tenancy.
However, since then things have settled down and tenant notices are back in line with what we’d expect for this time of year, which landlords will be pleased to hear.
It will be interesting to see the trends as time goes on, but we don’t expect it to have as big an impact on tenant changeovers as many fear. Each time a tenant moves, they have costs to pay and admin to do in changing address, along with the time spent searching for a new property. So unless their circumstances change or they really aren’t happy with the property, we don’t think typical tenancy lengths will be affected too much. It’s therefore more important than ever for landlords to keep on top of maintenance and keep their property to a high standard otherwise, tenants will get frustrated and serve notice.”
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