Letting agent fees are increasing following the introduction of the Renters’ Rights Act, adding another cost for landlords already dealing with wider changes to the private rented sector.
A Goodlord survey of almost 250 UK landlords found that 23% had seen letting agent fees rise since the new rules came into effect.
The survey also highlighted other concerns linked to the legislation. Half of landlords said their compliance workload had increased, while 25% were concerned about the difficulty of regaining possession from problem tenants.
The changes follow the abolition of Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions on 1 May. Landlords must now rely on Section 8 and meet one of the specified legal grounds when seeking possession.
For rent arrears cases, landlords must also wait four weeks after serving a Section 8 notice before court proceedings can begin. Goodlord warned that existing court delays could make the process take even longer.
Landlords Become More Careful
The new rules appear to be influencing how landlords approach tenant selection.
Around 39% of those surveyed said they had introduced stricter tenant checks, while 9% said they were putting more effort into retaining tenants and reducing turnover.
Goodlord has also raised concerns about tenancy fraud. Separate research estimates that fraudulent applications cost the private rented sector around £4.1bn a year, with 41 suspected fraudulent applications recorded for every 1,000 between July 2025 and June 2026.
The figures suggest that thorough tenant referencing and careful selection are becoming increasingly important as landlords adjust to the Renters’ Rights Act and the end of Section 21.
Nishma Parekh, Goodlord’s director of referencing, said choosing the right tenant from the start has become more important because resolving a problematic tenancy can now be more difficult and costly.
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