Letting agents could lose landlords rather than protect fee income if they push Renters’ Rights Act compliance costs straight back onto clients without showing a clear return, according to fresh research from Goodlord.
Landlords question value as compliance pressure rises
Goodlord’s latest Is Renting Broken? report suggests the relationship between landlords and agents is under strain just as the sector moves into a more complex compliance phase. It says 68% of landlords still use a full management service, but 59% cite high fees and poor value as their biggest frustration.
That matters because many agents are expected to face higher admin workloads from May, particularly around documentation, rent changes and complaint handling. If those extra tasks are simply passed through as higher fees, some landlords may decide to self-manage, switch agent or leave the market altogether.
The report also points to a gap between how prepared agents believe they are and how landlords experience the service they receive. In other words, more regulation does not automatically strengthen the agent proposition if the value remains hard for clients to see.
Oli Sherlock, managing director of insurance at Goodlord, said agencies that show landlords their value before asking them to pay more are more likely to retain instructions as the market becomes more regulated.
This follows Residential Landlord’s earlier report on Rightmove’s Renters’ Rights Act training for letting agents and its coverage of the court system pressures behind the new regime, both of which showed that compliance is becoming central to agency value rather than a back-office extra.
Goodlord has outlined the findings in its latest Goodlord’s latest sector updates.
Why this matters for landlords before 1 May
For landlords, the message is straightforward. Agents who can cut admin, document decisions properly and manage disputes well may be worth higher fees. Agents who simply repackage rising costs as a price increase may find patience is limited.
There is a warning here for the sector too. If more landlords decide agency fees no longer stack up, the result may not be healthier margins for agents. It may be more self-management, more patchy compliance and more churn in agency books at exactly the wrong moment.
That is especially relevant for smaller landlords who are already weighing whether staying in the market still makes sense. For them, the quality of an agent’s service may now be a retention issue, not just a convenience issue.
Opinion
Some agents will use the Renters’ Rights Act to prove they are worth every penny. Others will use it as cover for a price rise. Landlords are likely to know the difference quickly, and the firms that get this wrong may find their managed stock walks out of the door.
