When the Renters’ Rights Act finally cleared Parliament, you could almost hear the groan ripple through the private rented sector. Not outrage this time – just exhaustion.
After years of debate, delay and broken promises, rental reform has finally landed.
Theresa May promised it. Boris Johnson pledged it. Rishi Sunak nearly pushed it over the line before the election wash-up killed it off. And now, under Keir Starmer’s Labour government, it’s law — the Renters’ Rights Act 2025.
After half a decade of consultation papers, U-turns and amendments; experts, analysts and commentators, Honourable Members, Noble Lords and umpteen government ministers; it dawned – the day that’s been so long in coming that many secretly hoped it might never arrive.
‘Everyone’s had a go at landlords
What makes this round of reform sting is that landlords have heard it all before. Each new government pledges to “rebalance” the market, as if landlords have spent decades scheming against tenants.
One reader, Margaret Venn, put it perfectly:
“According to the activists, landlords like us don’t exist. We’re all awful. When we’re gone, let’s see what renting is like with the corporates.”
Another, Mark Wakker, was blunter:
“The new rules are a weapon. But it’s the Socialist hands they’re being put into that makes them nuclear.”
Yes, there’s anger there – but also resigned disappointment. These are people who’ve taken risks with their own money, provided homes when the state thought better of it, worked hard to build portfolios yet feel branded as villains in a low-budget panto to be booed and hissed at by all and sundry.
The ‘no-fault’ myth
Much of the debate around Section 21 centred on the phrase “no-fault eviction.” For many landlords, that wording was a PR sleight of hand that painted them as heartless.
Andrew Townshend asked:
“How many Section 21 evictions were ever ‘no fault’?”
Jan Hall added:
“I’m apparently a rogue landlord. My tenant of 13 years begged me to raise the rent because she knew I couldn’t sell with tenants in situ — and I hadn’t raised it once in 13 years.”
There’s nothing “no-fault” about that. But these gentle, decent relationships that operate throughout the PRS aren’t the stuff of news stories and rarely make the headlines.
Rules without resources
Landlords aren’t opposed to standards; they’re opposed to confusion.
John M Hughes put it bluntly:
“This will be difficult, if not impossible, to enforce – there just isn’t the manpower.”
Tricia Urquhart agreed:
“Regulation protects no one without enforcement.”
The frustration isn’t about safer homes – it’s about another layer of rules that overstretched councils can’t realistically police.
Politics of perception
Landlords know how they’re seen. For years, “rogue landlord” has been the easy tag, the ready-made villain for every housing problem. The caricature stuck fast.
It’s as if Machiavellian landlords have connived and plotted against vulnerable tenants swathed in sweet innocence – when in reality, the story is so much more run-of-the-mill. The majority of landlords provide decent homes and the majority of tenants pay the rent on time.
A market that refuses to fold
And yet, the PRS endures and experience tells me it will continue to do so. Behind the politics, the fundamentals haven’t changed: demand still dwarfs supply almost everywhere.
Even as some landlords exit, others see opportunity. Prices are softening, stock levels rising, and interest rates may ease in the New Year – a rare buyer’s market for those planning ahead.
The irony? Just as landlords are being cast as black-hat baddies, the sector is quietly preparing for another chapter of growth.
Where next?
Landlords are bruised and battle-weary, but still standing. They’ve survived tax changes, licensing, EPC targets and pandemics – and they’ll likely adapt again, because the country still needs the PRS.
Perhaps what’s needed now isn’t more legislation but a little respect: an acknowledgment that private landlords provide homes to millions of people the government can’t house itself.
Until next time,
N
Nat Daniels is chief executive of Angels Media, publishers of Landlord Today and the other ‘Today’ property trade titles.
