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Facing the Future: 2026 Hopes and Fears
By Nic Paton for Property Magazine
December 2025
What will 2026 hold for you? As the year draws to a close, and with the Renters’ Rights Act now on the statute books, we look at what the next 12 months promises for landlords across England and Wales
The Renters’ Rights Act is now a reality. Years in the making, the legislation will bring about once-in-a generation changes for landlords up and down the country. But what does that mean in reality? It is only next year that the first parts of the Act will be implemented, but with Making Tax Digital (MTD) also on the horizon, along with proposed new minimum energy efficiency standards (MEES), it will not be the only upheaval the sector is facing. Landlord Andy Graham says the new year will mark a line in the sand, with the ‘watching and waiting’ of 2025 giving way to a more active approach.
Andy, who is founder of the HMO Roadmap, HMO Community and host of The HMO Podcast, says the next 12 months will see landlords start to roll up their sleeves and focus on getting things done. “It won’t matter where you are, what sort of accommodation you manage or your tenant demographic, it will be bumpy as everybody settles in and gets familiar with the legislation,” he tells Property. “I think there is a lot of panic at the minute. It will be disruptive and we are going to have to think on our feet to an extent. However, I think it will be OK eventually because, on the whole, most tenants are good, most landlords are good and I think we will find a new norm.” “The uncertainty around the Act has been a big cloud hanging over the sector, so I think people are starting to feel clearer now we know the implementation dates,” agrees Richard Blanco, a London-based landlord and co-presenter of the NRLA Podcast Listen Up Landlords.
Some elements of the legislation – such as the abolition of Section 21 – are due to come into force on the commencement date of the Act on 1 May 2026. Other elements – such as the introduction of the dispute resolution ombudsman and the new Decent Homes Standard for the private rented sector (PRS) will come in later (see page 10 for a full timeline). Moreover, while the implementation of the Act will likely be the biggest talking point throughout next year, it will by no means be the only one, with James Kent, the NRLA’s chief product officer, explaining that 2026 will be a unique year for landlords in other ways, too
Compliance under the new rules
Those affected by the first of the MTD roll-out will need to fill out multiple returns, filing for the January 2027 self-assessment deadline as well as the quarterly returns required under MTD from April onwards.
“Independent or joint-ownership landlords might have even more reporting obligations,” James explains, urging members to mitigate the risk of confusion in this transition by signing up to the NRLA’s Portfolio management system.
“Keeping clear and well-organised records has always been essential when running a property business, but it is set to become more important than ever next year with the introduction of the Renters’ Rights Act. With fines for getting it wrong hitting £40,000, it is vital that landlords are not only compliant with the new rules, but that there is a paper trail to prove it,” James says.
Then, of course, we have the Government’s plans around MEES, which are expected to be confirmed in 2026. Proposals that would mandate a minimum Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of C for new tenancies from 2028 and all privately rented homes by 2030 remain deeply contentious for many in the sector, due to the tight time frames and cost, of up to £15,000 per property.
“I don’t think it will be [EPC] C by 2028 and 2030; I just don’t think it’s workable,” says Richard. “What I would like to see is C being postponed to 2035. Whether they will do that, who knows? I think it’d be more realistic to aim for D by 2028 and 2030. I think if they don’t, that will be quite a strong signal for a lot of landlords to sell up.”
Article pages from Property Magazine by the National Residential Landlord Association.
The impact on landlords
“There are, I think, also going to be real headwinds next year around the cost of construction, and the lack of labour,” Richard adds. “It is hard to get staff and trades, and I think that will really hit home next year.” “The average cost to take a PRS home from an E to a C will be over £10,000 each. What will happen, ultimately, is that costs will just be piled onto the tenant,” agrees The Property Show podcaster Russell Quirk, co-founder of ProperPR.
Generally, however – and much like Andy Graham – Russell, for one, is confident that, while next year is unlikely to be easy, the sector will come through. “There have been lots of alarmist noises coming from the landlord community, lots of lamenting, lots of negativity. What I think we will see now, and six to 12 months down the line, is reality dawning that, actually, in practical terms, the Act won’t make that much of a difference to the day-to-day for most landlords,” he says. “What it does mean, I think, is that the criteria around referencing and choosing tenants will have to toughen. Landlords will need to refocus on what a ‘good’ tenant is and looks like. So that then, the question of arrears and courts and the Renters’ Rights Act becomes academic.
“If you have got great tenants in place who have got a good track record, who check out properly and maybe have guarantors as standard, then I don’t think there is anything to worry about,” Russell adds.
Landlord's views
Next year will be a year of transition for the sector, agrees landlord Neil France and, for many, may bring an evaluation – or re-evaluation – of how (or even whether) they want to stick with property investment. Neil manages a portfolio of four family lets on the Wirral peninsula and three houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) in Chelmsford, but is questioning whether, or for how long, in the current climate he wants to continue at this pace as a landlord.
“Overall, I would say we’re in a state of flux as a sector. I run a business and like to be very clear what my next steps are going to be and where we need to make improvements,” he tells Property, with the likely costs associated with reaching an EPC rating of C a key worry. “If I was 40, then I would probably say, ‘OK, I’ll do it as a long-term investment’. But I’m coming up on 69 now, so do I want the hassle? The country needs a private rented sector but, if you’re going to ask people to invest, you’ve got give them a level of certainty,” he adds, albeit emphasising that, in all probability, he will be sticking with the sector.
“We may see more landlords close to retirement thinking, "Oh, this is just not worth it’, and that, obviously, restricts supply,” agrees Devon Parker, who runs Classhouse Property, which manages and develops predominantly two- to-three bedroom properties across the North East of England, mainly on South Tyneside. “From my perspective, however, that is perhaps a bit of an opportunity – to buy up properties that are being sold off.
Article pages from Property Magazine by the National Residential Landlord Association.
But generally, pushing costs up for tenants isn’t a good thing, regardless of whether they are my tenants or not,” she says. The combination of the Act and ongoing court backlogs will lead to a more defensive approach among landlords, a more general tightening of, and mitigating against, tenant risk, she argues. “We’ve already made changes to the criteria that we set when selecting tenants and to our affordability metrics. We won’t take anyone without a home-owning guarantor because we don’t trust the courts system,” Devon points out.
Cautious optimism
When it comes to finance and new lending, Doug Hall, director at NRLA partner 3mc, says he is “cautiously optimistic” about the year ahead. He points to UK Finance data suggesting that, for new mortgage lending (so not including product transfers), 2025 is on track to have been the busiest year since 2022.
While base rates are of course hard to predict, his feeling is they are unlikely at least to be heading back up next year. “Yes, there are headwinds. But purely from a finance point of view, I think we are in a more favourable environment than we were going into 2023, and I cannot see any bumps in the road going forward. I don’t think we’re suddenly going to go back to 2022 levels of lending, but I think we are seeing growth year-on-year, which is positive,” Doug says. The ongoing uncertainly about what the sector will look and feel like in 12 months is evident in the NRLA’s quarterly Landlord Confidence tracker data, highlights NRLA head of research Nick Clay. For England and Wales, confidence as a whole was tracking at +34.7 in the most recent quarter. This was up nearly 9% on the previous three months, but this recovery is fragile – and we are nowhere near the levels of confidence which existed pre-credit crunch.
“What this is all saying to me is that landlords are not confident, but they are not having an existential crisis,” Nick says. It is also more than likely that during the year we will see a drip, drip, drip of horror stories in the media of landlords who have, in some shape or form, fallen foul of the Act as it is tested in the courts, he predicts. Ultimately, argues Andy Graham, landlords are going to face a choice over the next 12 months. “It will be whether to throw in the towel and say, ‘I can’t be bothered with the next 18 months figuring all this out’. Or to say, ‘I’m prepared to do it because I want to get to this new place’. And this new place is where there is a bit less competition, the sector is more professional and, if you do it well, you will probably continue to make good returns,” he says. Who knows, maybe 1 January could genuinely be the start of a ‘happy new year’ after all?
