"The insights on the Renters (Reform) Bill show how much change a year can bring and how opinions are continuing to shift as the regulatory picture evolves."
- William Reeve, CEO of Goodlord
The State of the Lettings Industry report, due to be released on the 12th September 2023, brings together the views of more than 2,000 letting agents, landlords and tenants. The report will explore how agents are feeling about upcoming legislative changes; landlord considerations around reducing their portfolios; how the industry feels about EPCs; letting agents’ approach the future; how tenants are coping with the current socio-economic crisis.
The report will also explore sentiment towards the Renters (Reform) Bill. Despite its introduction in May, this significant piece of legislation continues to divide opinion with the majority of landlords feeling pessimistic. Of those surveyed, 25% said they felt “very” pessimistic and 29% were “somewhat” pessimistic. Only 14% felt at all optimistic. Although letting agents had mixed feelings with 43% saying they felt either “very” or “somewhat” pessimistic, only 29% felt optimistic about the changes.
In last year’s report, the abolition of Section 21 (banning “no-fault” evictions) was a highly contentious issue, with the majority of agents and landlords believing this would have a negative impact. In 2022, over 70% of landlords felt the Renters (Reform) Bill would have a negative impact, but this dropped to 62% in the following year. At the same time, the volume of landlords feeling neutral about the change has risen from 12% to 29%.
Meanwhile, letting agents appear to have lost optimism over the last twelve months. In 2022, 27% of agents felt the abolition of Section 21 would have a positive impact, but this dropped to just 11% in 2023.
Currently, landlords hold the most negative views about the introduction of a property ombudsman, with 43% believing it will have a negative impact on the sector. Only 22% felt that it would have a positive impact, while 42% of letting agents and 41% of industry suppliers were optimistic about the introduction of the ombudsman.
Commenting on these findings, William Reeve, CEO of Goodlord, has said:
“Our upcoming report analyses the opinions of more than 2,000 industry stakeholders, covering more than 120 questions. Through this, we’ve managed to build a 360-degree view of industry sentiment. The insights on the Renters (Reform) Bill show how much change a year can bring and how opinions are continuing to shift as the regulatory picture evolves. We’re excited to share our findings in full in the coming weeks.”
Tom Goodlord, managing director at Vouch, added:
“After another rollercoaster ride of a year to date for the industry, this report is a deep dive into how people across the sector are truly feeling. We hope this brings valuable insights to a market which is moving at pace and facing a wide variety of challenges.”
