Nearly one in four landlords say letting agent fees have risen since the Renters’ Rights Act came into force, while one in four also report concerns about regaining possession from problem tenants, according to a new Goodlord poll.
The survey found 23% had already seen agency costs increase and 25% were worried about getting properties back where a tenancy goes wrong. Half said the new regime had increased their compliance workload.
Those figures point to a second-round cost problem in the post-Section 21 market. Landlords are not only dealing with a tougher possession route themselves – they are also starting to absorb the extra admin, risk pricing and process work being pushed through by agents.
RRA admin costs are now feeding into landlord bills
Goodlord’s Renters’ Rights Act guidance already highlights the heavier reliance on Section 8 and the tighter process landlords now face when a tenancy breaks down. Reporting on the latest poll showed that 39% of landlords had become more cautious on tenant vetting, while 9% were putting more effort into retention to avoid avoidable turnover and reletting risk.
The immediate commercial point is simple. Where managing agents face more compliance work, more case handling and more pressure around possession, some of those costs will find their way into fee structures. That may be manageable for larger portfolios, but it can bite much harder for smaller landlords who use full management to stay compliant.
Nishma Parekh, director of referencing at Goodlord, said getting tenant selection right first time had become more critical because reversing a bad match is now harder once a tenancy has begun.
This follows Residential Landlord’s August reporting on possession pressures after the Act’s launch and earlier coverage of the fraud and screening risks landlords already face. Together, the figures suggest the financial after-effects of the Act are now moving beyond pure legal compliance and into day-to-day operating costs.
Landlords may tighten selection as costs and delays build
A slower and more formal possession route changes behaviour upstream. Landlords who think it will take longer and cost more to fix a problem tenancy are more likely to screen harder at the start, lean on guarantors where they can, or hold out for applicants who look lower risk on paper.
That may help some investors protect income, but it can also make access to rented housing tougher for applicants with irregular earnings, thinner paperwork or past affordability pressure. The danger is that a system meant to improve security ends up making first-round tenant selection more defensive and expensive.
For landlords, the practical lesson is to review management agreements, fee assumptions and referencing standards now rather than wait for the next renewal or possession problem to expose the new cost base.
Opinion
The early warning sign here is not just that possession is harder. It is that the extra friction is starting to show up in agent pricing and landlord behaviour. Once that happens, the cost of a bad tenancy rises for everyone in the chain.
