Is it time for a landlords anonymous support group?

Are you a landlord looking for support? Are you exasperated at the changes you are facing and simply don’t know where to turn? Do you wish you had a group of peers that you could bounce off and see if they have the same worries?

Or are you simply overwhelmed and trying to ignore the upcoming changes, hoping that they will go away? Sadly, ignoring the situation isn’t an option. Landlords are looking for help and of course at Progressive Lets we are also here to do what we can to support all our landlords.

But what if there was another pillar of support? Is it time for Landlord’s Anonymous – a support group to help proactive landlords deal with the challenging market conditions they currently face and a place to find others who also need answers to their burning questions without judgement or recognition?

A rising tide of challenges
We’re just putting it out there as an idea and there are already such groups emerging. It’s inevitable. Landlords need support more than ever as they face the strain of multiple new challenges as well as the biggest regulatory changes in more than 30 years.

Costs are rising, from energy to maintenance and mortgage payments. Additional costs are also coming in the form of enforced energy efficiency improvements as minimum energy efficiency standards (MEES) and EPC certificates are revised, as well as regulatory changes imposed by the Renters’ Rights Bill to improve the standard of properties for tenants.

Rents continue to rise, hitting a 13th consecutive quarterly record at the end of 2024 according to Rightmove. While this absorbs some of the increased costs landlords face, it depends on tenants having the means to pay. The market is close to an affordability ceiling where further absorption of rising costs just won’t be viable. Landlords can see that and are naturally worried.

Wallets are stretched but so too is landlords’ patience, which many feel is being thoroughly tested. The Renters’ Rights Bill will bring a plethora of changes – from how tenancy agreements are structured to revised possession rights and from pets being allowed in properties to a limit on rent increases.

Landlords aren’t resistant to improvements in the private rented sector – the principle aim of many of these changes. They want to provide good quality properties and they want to keep their tenants happy. The majority already do. But they are increasingly exasperated by the scale of the changes that are being proposed, the challenges they will face adapting to them and the impact it will have on their business.

The need to be listened to
Many landlords are also feeling unheard and unappreciated as the power balance shifts from landlord to tenant. Some have already accused the government of not listening to their calls to make the changes easier for them to absorb. It’s a difficult situation.
Landlords have a need for answers and to be listened to.