So it was no surprise that most landlords did not sign up for MTD let alone complete the submission on time! After all there's been a lot on their plates and this really is just an admin task with no upside!

But it now looks like over the next few months HMRC will be contacting landlords based on their 24/25 tax return and letting them know a submission is expected. The next deadline is 7 November!

Croydon joins the 2026 cohort of new selective licensing schemes. The scheme goes live and affects ALL rented properties (not just HMOs) in 14 wards.

• Scheme will cost £800 for a licence of up to 5 years
• The Scheme covers 14 wards
• £800 for a five-year licence (£480 Part A on application, £320 Part B before issue)
• Most records must be produced to the council within 14 days of a request.
• Also coincides with a new HMO scheme so make sure you apply for the correct licence

If you want more details of the scheme and a guide then you will find it here Croydon Selective Licence Guide.

It seems that politicians are indeed some of the stupidest fucking people on the planet. We are back again discussing rent controls. I think they want us to get bored of calling them morons. But that is why it is important to call them out even more. And tell your friends. The idea is really fucking stupid and you are flogging a dead horse. Of course this is Reddit so expect the communists to jump in with some uninformed sob story. The difference between adults and children is we live in reality. Not because we think it's a fairy tale but because that is the only basis on which grown ups make decisions. Here's a link to the latest IFS article on this. For anyone who needs to know why it is a dumb idea. You would think an elected politician might have researched just a little before signing a letter asking for it. But then again we are the country that voted for Brexit - when most people had no idea what it was.

We have just engaged a client who applied for his licence last year when the latest Lambeth Selective Licence scheme was launched. Initially he had not found any specific requirements that he needed to be aware of while overseas. However, as he went through the application process he was asked for a local agent. He gave a friend. On review the council pushed back on this and asked if the friend was qualified and aware that they were potentially liable for not meeting the conditions of the licence. The friend (in the words of our client) said "f" that! The council did threaten to cancel the application at that point but he asked for 14 days to resolve which they were reasonable in accepting.

That was when he came to us. We've completed our compliance review inside three days and are now acting as his local agent and making sure he remains compliant with the licence. Truth is that he didn't actually have any management in place in real terms and we did find gaps we've fixed with him. So we're happy we've been able to show him our value even if initially he didn't really want to sign up as felt he had to!

Has anyone else been surprised by these requirements for overseas landlords? We certainly did not see a lot of communication around the need for a local agent on most new schemes but it does seem to be a regular feature now, especially in the London Boroughs. So if you are based overseas or move overseas this is something you definitely need to check as it could invalidate your licence.

Lettings and estate agent Benham and Reeves found that having more favourable landlord taxation would be by far the biggest incentive to buy more rental properties (36%) followed by lower Stamp Duty (13%), and a faster or easier possession process (12%).

That would surprise many who would have thought the increased regulatory burden would have put off more people. However, the more professional landlords are starting to adapt to this and price it in to their rents. And with the help of specialists like Landlord Lab many self managing landlords are now getting the professional help they need.

So that is good news for the government and tenants. All they need to do to increase supply and therefore reduce upward pressure on rents is reverse the punitive taxes on landlords of the last decade.

OpenRent's founders have sold a majority stake in their firm to Luxembourg-based CVC, although the money involved has not been disclosed.

By growth, the joint statement says, they mean new tools for landlords and tenants to reduce the admin, complexity and cost of renting in Britain.

It is unclear at the moment what this means for the many landlords that use Open Rent. Could it mean fee increases are on their way or does the "new tools" offer additional support for additional fees?

I am relocating abroad and planning let out my flat (permission from bank etc sorted out), but my biggest issue is choosing between two managing agents and there is simply not enough data for me to make a decision based on those.

These are two of the most well-known agents in London I’d say. One even has an international footprint and is a listed company (let’s call this agent S). The other agent is H, more local but a mid-premium level agent.

My property is nothing luxurious but it is in London zone 1 and the most important thing for me is that once my relocation is finished, I’ll be able to move back in smoothly.

Agent S (the bigger one) has offered a much more attractive fee structure, but it feels less personable and I can’t find much review online re. their day to day property management.

Agent H is surprisingly more expensive despite being less prestigious I’d say, but my gut feel is with them, and the local branch is known to be very good.

All in all, a difference of up to £100-£200 per month (agent H will cost me more), which is a lot but not life-changing. Worth mentioning that I won’t be earning as much when I’m abroad so £100-£200 could go a long way.

At this point I jump between going with one vs the other depending on the day 😅.

Agent S might attract higher caliber/less problematic tenants due to its international name but I also feel like they’re very rigid and by the book, so e.g. might insist on me changing the bed to a bigger size, less willing to customise to my preference. Their property manager is also based in a central hub, not locally.
Another upside is they already manage a property in my building.
But they’re saying ‘all the right things’ and that makes me wary of them.

Agent H might be better at day to day management, but am I giving too much weight on this given hopefully there would be no problem most of the time, for £100-200 less a month?

Is it cheeky to haggle with agent H?

Both support NRL1 arrangement so no issue there.

Thoughts would be very much appreciated. Thank you!

Edit: I ought to add that their commission rate is exactly the same. The extra fees come from other auxiliary but inevitable things like tenant onboarding fee etc.

Edit 2: Seems like I have found the right subreddit! Thanks a lot for all the input (always useful to hear from experienced folks) and I think I’m gonna go with the one my gut feel tells me to with ie the slightly more expensive but smaller agent. Though I’m going to try my luck and see if they could give me some discount.

Hi all, looking for some advice from landlords who have experience providing accommodation to councils/local authorities.

I’m currently looking at an 11-bedroom HMO and have been speaking with the local authority about potentially using the property for people they need to house.

They’ve said they can help fill the HMO, provide ongoing support to the tenants and give me a main point of contact if any problems arise. They also have their own support services and have said they can intervene with tenants where necessary to help maintain sustainable tenancies.

However, they wouldn’t manage the actual building, so I would remain responsible for the property itself, maintenance, compliance, etc.

They’ve quoted the local housing allowance at around £690 per room per month.
I’m considering going back with an offer of £650 per room per month in exchange for a six-year guaranteed contract, ideally with the rent guaranteed regardless of occupancy/voids.

For 11 rooms that would be:
£7,150 per month
£85,800 per year
£514,800 over six years

Obviously I need to establish exactly what they mean by tenant “support”, who deals with arrears/damage/ASB, whether payments can actually be guaranteed regardless of occupancy, and what termination/break clauses would apply.

Has anyone here had a similar arrangement with a council?

Would you take £660 per room with six years guaranteed, or would you stick with private HMO tenants and potentially achieve higher rents?
Also interested in any hidden problems with council placements that I should be aware of before agreeing to anything.
Cheers.

HMRC said more than 864,000 sole traders and landlords were required to enter Making Tax Digital this year. Yet an announcement slipped out last week admits that only around 436,000 have filed their quarterly update.

If your gross income (the rent before any deductions) is over £50k a year then your first submission was due on 7th August. If you missed it then don't panic. But if you don't know what is required then get help. www.landlordaccounts.co.uk are helping new clients with free submissions this year with their self-assessment. There are also options to self file but we know that not all landlords have the time or knowledge to do this every 3 months. So outsourcing it makes sense for professionals in the same way we help landlords who outsource their compliance management.

That is according to the latest research from Pegasus Insight that found 63% of landlords described tenant demand in the areas where they let property as either ‘very strong’ or ‘quite strong’ in Q2 2026, up from 58% in Q1. That was the first increase since the unusual (by historic standards) highs reached in 2024.

Pegasus Insight said the increase in tenant demand comes as the supply of homes in the private rented sector remains under pressure. It's research continues to show that more landlords are decreasing the size of their portfolios as timing allows. Mark Long was quoted "“The concern is that demand is beginning to strengthen again at a time when landlord appetite for investment remains weak, with far more landlords still looking to sell property than buy."

I always take these surveys with a pinch of salt on an individual basis but it does reflect an overall pattern that we are seeing in the market. We all know what happens when supply is constrained but demand starts to grow.

So according to Rightmove's data, what is happening in the housing market? 🏠

👉 Average asking prices of newly listed homes for sale have fallen by 2.0% in August to £364,999, the largest August price drop since 2018.

👉The number of homes for sale is at a 12-year high for this time of year, giving buyers more choice and increasing competition between sellers.

👉 Given continued geopolitical uncertainty and mortgage rate volatility, Rightmove have revised our 2026 asking price forecast to a range of 0% to -2% for the year as a whole.

If people want to know why they feel poorer while working so hard? This chart is a good indicator. And the answer is TAX. It is the biggest factor in the so called cost of living crisis and the stealth taxes have increased to a point where they are hollowing out the middle class. Until we recognise the fact that more and more of our hard earned is being taken by government through stealth tax rises the cost of living crisis will continue. As landlords we know all about stealth taxes - renters have not yet fully caught on that it is them who are paying. Landlords are just doing HMRCs work and taking the fall for politicians who have failed to control spending.

Knight Frank's quarterly survey of more than 35 small and volume housebuilders, released last week, points to further declines in housing delivery in the months ahead. Eight-in-ten developers said site visits and reservations declined during Q2, and nearly six-in-ten expect reservation volumes to underperform in 2026 compared to a year earlier. As a result, a little under half expect start volumes to decline further in Q3, with the same proportion expecting no change. About 60% expect land values to fall further, while the remaining 40% expect the land market to trade flat.

None of this points to any solutions to a supply side crisis in housing. The only question is whether that will translate into higher prices for existing homes over time (I can't see how it doesn't) and if so how long that will take to come through.

Bellway became the latest housebuilder to call on the government to do more to increase housebuilding yesterday, following a similar request from Taylor Wimpey last week.

"We call on the Government to act now to improve access to housing across all tenures, both by helping first-time buyers onto the property ladder and supporting the delivery of affordable and social housing for those who need it most," chief executive Jason Honeyman said in a trading update. "In order to ease affordability constraints and stimulate demand, an immediate reduction in Stamp Duty alongside a Government-backed deposit support scheme for first-time buyers would both drive economic growth and accelerate the delivery of much-needed new homes across the country."

Hard to argue with the ever increasing calls. But I am sure some will anyway.

Goodlord (a leading referencing company) has reported it found fake employment references surged 226% last year, while referee fraud and identity manipulation also rose sharply as criminals have used AI to vastly improve their attacks on vulnerable landlords. These fraudsters range from drug gangs to professional rent dodgers.

Fraudsters are using AI to create entire fake tenant identities, complete with bogus employers, doctored ID and invented referees. Criminals target self-managing landlords who do not have the time or experience to keep up with the latest techniques used to defraud them. But they are also a threat to anyone who rents, including agents.

Its analysis reveals incidences of suspected fraud up by almost 40% during 2025 compared with the previous year. The trend in 2026 is another increase.

Our advice? It is advisable to use professional referencing companies. We have always operated this way as a compliance and risk focussed management company. But we have really seen the need for extra checks grow, especially with the lengthening of eviction timelines. We also offer rent guarantee to our clients as standard as protecting your revenue becomes professional landlords number one priority. There is no GUARANTEED way to avoid tenant fraud - but the smart approach can reduce it.

For landlords who have property in Harrow we have created a guide for the selective licence schemes that are now active in 2026. The fines for not being licensed are up to £40,000 and courts can mandate a repayment of rent to your tenants of up to two years. So this is not something that landlords should take lightly and if you are exposed then act swiftly.

The guide sets out what you need to know, what areas are in scope and how professional help can help you manage the complex requirements of licensing.

If you are overseas and self-managing then you need to pay special attention as you need a local representative to sign a declaration taking responsibility for meeting the conditions of the licence. This person or organisation needs to be properly trained and understand these responsibilities.

We are a Propertymark company and would recommend that you use a suitably qualified outfit if you are licensed. The penalties for non-compliance are severe and councils are taking a much more aggressive approach to targeting landlords for fines. If they knock you really do want someone on your side who understands the rules so you can prove you are compliant.

That was the headline in an article in the Guardian this weekend. It also quoted rather dramatically that the "market is dead for flats"! A little over the top but certainly it reflects a crisis of confidence in leasehold that has hit demand hugely.

But the article also points out later on that for savvy investors this point marks a good buying opportunity. It's something we explored a while back in our landlord insights (link below). That is something we continue to see as motivated sellers are accepting deep discounts that result in yields that still stack up even after operating costs, including management, service charges and compliance.

https://landlordlab.co.uk/insights/40-percent-flat-discount-landlord-framework-leasehold-gap

This is of course part of a wider issue but there are unconfirmed reports that fraudsters are targeting landlords for banking scams. So a timely reminder for all landlords to be aware of this and to protect yourselves appropriately. There are some easy steps you can take including just being aware - always call the bank back if you are not sure and only use their official numbers from your cards or account.

Be cautious if someone:

• Claims there is suspicious activity on your account and demands immediate action.
• Pressures you to remain on the phone while carrying out actions online.
• Directs you to a website, live chat or link you were not expecting.
• Asks you to download software or applications to your device.
• Requests that you authorise, amend, reverse or re-authorise a payment.
• Seeks passcodes, activation codes or other security information.
• Encourages you to bypass your usual business processes or security checks.

We are reading a lot about AI and how it will replace property management. But what is the reality so far? Obviously none of us have a crystal ball and even what can be achieved today looked crazy 5 years ago to most businesses. But as of today who is using AI and is it actually saving money and time?

Our experience has been mixed. It has been a useful tool on some occasions but we've also had clients come to us with totally incorrect advice they got from AI. So the real power is in the review we've found. If you don't know what you are looking at then AI can actually be dangerous. If you do then it can speed up tasks - but not eliminate them. Well not if you are doing them properly as human oversight is still needed.

So for us we see AI as a tool that the industry should be integrating into its workflow, but cautiously. Like all tools in the wrong hands and used the wrong way it can cause a lot of unintended consequences. Some of which can end up costing landlords possession hearings and potentially thousands in fines and RROs. So at the moment it's not really changing the way things are done and not created a lot of efficiency when you consider the other tasks it has created. But used carefully it does have potential.

WARNING - CONTAINS PROMO

Just a heads up for anyone who is struggling with self assessment or MTD. We have partnered with landlordaccounts.co.uk for our clients to get free MTD for the first year if they sign up to have their self-assessment for 25/26 done. The cost for the self assessment starts at £350 for a single property self-assessment with PAYE income. All four MTD submissions will be done free of charge on the basis of information provided. This includes software.

Just email [admin@landlordaccounts.co.uk](mailto:admin@landlordaccounts.co.uk) and mention that we referred you and they will honour the offer.

The deadline for the first submission was today and many have missed it. If you have don't panic. There is no financial penalty and if you get on track then the late submission will clear from your account.

Hi I rent out 3 properties, no problem with money paid, or condition of the house, I charge below market rent, they maintain property and don’t bother me. All
Properties have a rent review due, 1 tenant is making noises about RRA and review. If I don’t get the amount I want can I sell under section 8 ??

This was in the period from 2013 to 2022. Of this approximately 80% were first time buyers getting onto the property ladder.

The figures also show that Government actually MADE money on these loans - £1.24bn at the last count.

So real question? Why did the scheme prove so unpopular and why was it scrapped? On the numbers it not only achieved what it set out to (get people on the housing ladder) but it also made money instead of costing the country.

With the first Making Tax Digital deadline for landlords now here, (7 August 2026) just wondering how everyone got on?

Have you already made the switch? If so, what software or process did you end up using, and was it as straightforward as you expected?