Property market sees strong start to 2026

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Property market sees strong start to 2026

The property market has rebounded at the start of 2026, with the highest number of homes for sale in eight years, according to new data.

Research from property portal Zoopla shows buyer demand has surged, although it remains 10% below levels seen at the start of 2025.

However, demand is more than 20% higher than at the beginning of 2023 and well above pre-pandemic levels recorded between 2017 and 2019.

Positive to see a strong rebound in buyer demand

According to Zoopla, 2026 started with the average estate agent having 32 homes for sale, the highest level in early January since 2018.

The growth in the number of homes for sale compared to a year ago is greatest in London, up 16% on last year followed by the South East, up 9%.

Southern regions were most impacted by Budget uncertainty which stalled sales in the final months of 2025 meaning more homes carried over into 2026.

Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla, said: “After a sluggish end to 2025 it is positive to see a strong rebound in buyer demand over the first weeks of the year across all parts of the country. Growing numbers of homes for sale is evidence of a strong underlying appetite to move home for many households.  Market conditions vary widely across the UK, and sellers looking to move home in 2026 need to take this into account when planning their home move.

“Across much of southern England, there is a much greater choice of homes for sale. Buyers are price-sensitive and have more choice, so achieving the best result depends on setting a competitive asking price and attracting early interest. Homes priced too high often take longer to sell and at the risk of achieving a lower price. It is important that homeowners price carefully and seek the advice of agents to plan the right strategy for their home sale.”

He adds: “Across the rest of the country there is a degree of scarcity, but sellers need to remain realistic over pricing. The market is stable rather than booming. Buyers are active but careful, which means pricing correctly from the outset is crucial. Homes that are well-presented and realistically priced continue to sell, while those priced optimistically will take longer and may need price reductions to attract interest.”

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NRLA urges clarity as Renters’ Rights Act could overwhelm courts

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NRLA urges clarity as Renters’ Rights Act could overwhelm courts

The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) has warned court capacity could be overwhelmed by the Renters’ Rights Act.

In a letter to the Justice Select Committee, NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle pointed out that landlords are having to wait weeks for court hearings to regain possession of their properties.

With three months to go until the Renters’ Rights Act comes into force, the association is urging the government to do more to prepare the courts.

Government has yet to define what it means by the courts being “ready

According to government statistics, it now takes an average of over 34 weeks between a landlord making a claim to the courts to possess a property under the grounds-based Section 8 process and a property being repossessed, the highest level in four years.

Mr Beadle points out that industry experts, including the Master of the Rolls, who oversees the operation of the civil courts, have warned that abolishing Section 21 “will undoubtedly create more contested possession cases than we have had hitherto” and expressed concern about how prepared the county courts are to handle an increase in cases.

In a letter to the Justice Select Committee, Mr Beadle warns that the government has not provided clarity on how the courts will be prepared for the digital possession process.

He said: “At Report Stage of the Renters’ Rights Act, the Housing Minister told the Commons that: “Court readiness is essential to the successful operation of the new system”. We agree with the Minister.

“However, the government has yet to define what it means by the courts being “ready”. Without that clarity, it is unclear what the planned digitisation of possession cases is intended to deliver or how success will be measured.

“More broadly, whilst the Master of the Rolls has indicated that the “first iteration” of the new digital platform to process possession cases is expected to be released in late Spring 2026, it remains unclear what this will look and feel like in practice for tenants and landlords, or the extent to which it will speed up the processing of legitimate possession claims.”

Government is sending contradictory messages

Mr Beadle says the government is sending contradictory messages over tribunal data, claiming it will intervene if the Tribunal becomes overwhelmed while admitting it lacks the basic information to make that assessment.

He explains: “In response to a recent written question from Lord Carter of Haslemere (HL10508), the Minister reaffirmed that the government would use the proposed safeguard in the Act “if the Tribunal appears at risk of being overwhelmed by a sharp increase in challenges” and that this would be subject to the affirmative procedure.

“However, in reply to a related written question (HL10509), the Justice Minister, Baroness Levitt, stated that HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not hold data on the average time for the First- tier Tribunal Property Chamber to consider, process and rule upon rent appeal cases, and that such data could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

“This creates an obvious tension. Ministers have said the government will intervene if the Tribunal becomes overwhelmed, which the Master of the Rolls has warned is very possible.

“However, the Ministry of Justice does not hold the basic data needed to assess the current caseload or to define what level of increase would constitute the Tribunal being ‘overwhelmed’. Without this information, it is difficult to see how the government can effectively determine when the new powers should be exercised.”

The NRLA is calling on the Justice Select Committee to question the government for more clarity on how the courts will be prepared for the new system.

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We are feeling SO trapped?

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We are feeling SO trapped?

We had planned to sell our 4 BTLs when we retired in 2015, but time seems to have slipped by, and we are still trapped with 3 of them. Two of them have been tenanted by the same people since 2006, and the third is currently vacant.

With all the nasty stuff coming down the line at private landlords, and as we are now in our mid-late 70s, we decided to grasp the nettle, and so, in the autumn of 2025, we put all 3 on the market with an agent who would list them on an auction site, hoping to sell them quickly to another investor.

None of them sold. We took the 2 that are tenanted off the market, leaving just the vacant one, where it has been ever since, sadly still with no serious interest. The interest-only mortgage ends in September, when it will either need to be repaid or we will need to find another deal.

Now we’re wondering whether we should re-let the vacant one and put the other 2 on the open market, sucking up the Early Redemption fees on their (newish) mortgages should they sell.

Our questions are:

• What is the last date we can issue a Section 21 before the Renters’ Rights Act comes in?
• What is the longest notice we could give our tenants at that time?

And should they still fail to sell within a reasonable time (since we will be covering both mortgages, full council tax x 2, vacant property insurance x 2 etc which will eat up our pension pots) would we be able to re-let them after issuing the Section 21s before the RRA comes in, or would we need to leave them empty for a year as by then the RRA would be in force?

Or … should we just stick with our good tenants (selling if/when they move out), keep our fingers crossed we can weather the legislation, the expense of getting all 3 up to an EPC C (not to mention deciphering Making Tax Difficult) and leave it to our kids to sort the mess out when we’re pushing up daisies???

Denise

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January house prices jump 2.8% as buyer confidence returns

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January house prices jump 2.8% as buyer confidence returns

The average asking price of newly listed homes jumped to £368,031 in January, marking a 2.8% rise from December and the biggest January increase ever recorded.

According to Rightmove, the £9,893 monthly increase is also the strongest rise seen in any month since June 2015.

National prices are now 0.5% above levels seen a year ago as confidence improves following last autumn’s Budget uncertainty.

Stock levels are at their highest since 2014, and a third of homes have already reduced their asking prices, signalling that competition remains intense.

Listing at higher prices

Colleen Babcock, a property expert at Rightmove, said: “It’s an encouraging start to the year to see sellers confident enough to list their homes at higher prices after several months of muted price growth last year, coinciding with more potential buyers returning to market.

“However, asking prices are only back to where they were in the summer of 2025 before the Budget rumours began surfacing, which unsettled the market and dented confidence.

“This new year, seller confidence is a good sign.”

She added: “There’s a 12-year high number of homes for sale for this time of year, so buyers have lots of choice, and a third of properties that were already on the market for sale have had a price reduction.”

Buyers return

The price rebound reflects a return of movers to the market with buyer enquiries climbing 57% in the two weeks after Christmas compared with the fortnight before.

New listings rose by 81% and the traditional Boxing Day bounce was particularly strong.

Rightmove says its platform saw its busiest ever day for traffic.

While recent demand is lower than the stamp-duty-driven rush seen at the start of 2025, it broadly matches levels recorded in 2024.

Most areas saw rises

Regional trends remain mixed with most areas recording price growth in January.

However, the East Midlands and Scotland moved against the wider pattern with month-on-month declines.

Rightmove’s mortgage tracker shows the average two-year fixed rate has fallen to 4.29%, down from 5.03% a year earlier.

That’s the lowest level since before the September 2022 mini-Budget.

The cheapest two-year deals for borrowers with larger deposits now start from 3.47%.

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Selling properties in Liverpool, Nottingham or Manchester could get you higher prices than other landlords

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Selling properties in Liverpool, Nottingham or Manchester could get you higher prices than other landlords

As we hit the middle point of January, data has started to come in about where landlords are selling, and which ones are getting higher prices than anyone else. Whilst landlords still need to be realistic on price, it seems that some areas are starting to perform substantially better than others.

Liverpool, Nottingham, Manchester and Leeds consistently came in as achieving the best results for landlords looking to sell tenanted properties. In part, that’s driven by the fact that for properties £300K and under, there’s simply more buyer options for your rental houses – you’ll likely either sell to a new landlord buyer, or a first-time buyer wanting it as a residential home. That’s first time buyers and investors both chasing the properties.

The result? Prices drive up fast, and landlord exit companies, such as ours at Landlord Sales Agency, are able to manage this to create a bidding war, resulting in far higher prices than anywhere else.

For houses in London fetching higher prices, however, the situation is substantially harder. First-time buyers can’t afford them, you’re only likely to get a smaller pool of second-time buyers, and investors don’t want to touch them. If they’re tenanted, which they mostly are, it doesn’t quite work for the auction style pricing to drive bidding wars. These are generally more suited for traditional estate agents, unless you want to wait and it take a little longer.

Put simply, the way that the market is going at the moment, landlord properties need to be in the right area for the right price. And in Liverpool, Nottingham, Manchester and Leeds, we’re seeing landlords coming to us and walking away with big wins.

For landlords who have properties in these areas looking to sell, Landlord Sales Agency specialises in helping landlords like you both overcome the problems of the Renters’ Rights Act coming into play this May 1^st, the end of Section 21 and the raft of tax penalties and new regulations.

For these reasons and more, like many landlords you’ll probably be considering selling. That’s where we come in. With years of experience in tenanted sales, and a database of over 30,000 active buyers looking to purchase anything from a single property to a full portfolio, Landlord Sales Agency can quickly match you with the perfect buyer. We send out text messages to our database the moment your property is listed with us as well as listing it on our modern online action and working with local agents.  The result is a bidding war, driving the prices for your properties up beyond what traditional agents are able to achieve in a quarter of the time. On average all our properties sell in less than 28 days.

What’s more, we’ll also make sure your property is compliant with all current regulations, essential to prevent a buyers solicitor stopping a sale in its tracks. You’ll get the tenanted sales advice and expertise that traditional estate agents rarely offer.

Our process is straightforward, confidential and designed to protect the landlord’s financial position. Whether you’re a small, private landlord, an experienced landlord or a landlord looking to retire, we’ve got the best team in the UK to assist.

So if you’re a landlord with properties in one of these areas, get in touch today.

There’s no obligation to sell, we’re simply determined to help landlords win. And it’s about time.

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Landlords: Should I stay or should I sell?

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Landlords: Should I stay or should I sell?

The Clash song ‘Should I stay or should I go’ should become the anthem for landlords everywhere because the chasm between Britain’s private landlords and the Westminster bubble has never been wider. On one side stand millions of ordinary people, often pensioners, self-employed workers or families, who have shouldered the nation’s housing burden for decades.

On the other side are MPs, tenant advocacy groups and a Labour government that treats landlords as public enemy number one.

Reading about Parliamentary debates this week on Property118 is not to read about policy issues but one-sided trench warfare.

It’s one thing to talk about the Renters’ Rights Act as a long overdue rebalancing of the sector, even a victory for fairness but there’s an inconvenient truth that the clowns in Westminster seem unable, or unwilling, to acknowledge.

When you make providing homes unworkable, fewer homes get provided.

Landlords invest for their futures

No one appreciates that small landlords are not faceless corporations and most of us are ordinary people who invested for retirement or for family security.

Many did so because self-employment offered no pension, no sick pay and no safety net.

We borrowed, maintained properties, paid tax in more ways than most people realise – this includes income tax, CGT, stamp duty, VAT on repairs – and we’ve housed millions without costing the state a penny in capital expenditure.

And for what?

The Labour government still appears genuinely surprised that landlords are selling.

This isn’t hearsay, the data has been there for years, including from bodies like Propertymark.

This week it revealed that the PRS is dominated by older, small scale landlords who are moving towards retirement.

Let’s face it, many of us simply don’t want the hassle, risk or cost of another sweeping regulatory overhaul layered on top of Making Tax Digital, licensing schemes, compliance creep and punitive enforcement powers.

Selling earlier than planned is now act of self-preservation in the face of what’s coming.

PRS isn’t a charity

I’ve said it before but let’s accept that the unintended consequence of the Renters’ Rights Act is obvious to anyone who has ever run a business.

Being a landlord is not a charity because every extra cost or risk gets priced into the rent.

If costs rise, rents rise and if risk becomes intolerable, supply falls.

That isn’t an unacceptable ideology but basic economics and it’s how markets have worked for decades.

But landlords are treated as if they are hoarding homes out of spite.

It’s ludicrous that penalties of up to £40,000 can be imposed at the discretion of councils and rent repayment orders can claw back up to two years of income for technical breaches.

Throw in confiscation orders and banning orders and more than 2.8 million landlords are subject to a compliance regime that barely existed before 1988.

Landlords forced out

It’s incredible that the housing minister Matthew Pennycook had the audacity to say ‘not all regulation is bad regulation’ when answering a question about regulations forcing landlords out.

Really? On that test, Labour’s current approach has failed by a country mile, especially for tenants on benefits, who will increasingly struggle to find anywhere willing to take them once risk and arrears become harder to manage.

In the 1980s, becoming a landlord was seen as aspiration and a way to take control, work hard and invest in the future.

For me, that dream has been slowly dismantled by the politics of envy.

Landlords are vulnerable since we carry personal debt, regulatory risk and unlimited liability without the protections that almost everyone else in the housing system enjoys.

The tedious narrative paints us as villains but we are still desperately needed to house people and keep the lights on.

So, when will ministers answer this simple question: When more small landlords sell, where exactly do the tenants go?

Social housing waiting lists are already bursting and build to rent cannot fill the gap fast enough.

If the goal is to punish landlords, fine but say it openly and don’t pretend the regulations help tenants.

Because when the last small landlord switches off the lights, it will not be MPs or campaign groups looking for somewhere to live.

Until next time,

The Landlord Crusader

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January house price cuts lure buyers

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January house price cuts lure buyers

More than a third of homes for sale across England are being marketed at reduced asking prices, offering scope for buyers wanting early-year savings before the market tightens.

An analysis from Benham and Reeves shows 37% of current listings have already been cut, creating a pool of potential January deals.

Yet the flow of fresh reductions is slowing, with only 0.8% of discounted properties added since 1 January, hinting that choice may shrink as momentum builds.

Researchers reviewed active listings nationwide to identify how many properties had been repriced and when those adjustments occurred.

Lower prices to find a buyer

Marc von Grundherr, a director of Benham and Reeves, said: “2025 was a steady but subdued year for the property market and, as a result, many sellers will have experienced little to no buyer interest, particularly across the more inflated regions of the South and London.

“So, it’s only natural that a sizeable proportion have resorted to reducing their asking price expectations in order to secure a sale and, as a result, there remains a strong opportunity for buyers to find a discounted property today.”

He added: “However, we’re already seeing early signs that the tide is beginning to turn.

“With Autumn Budget uncertainty now firmly behind us, both buyers and sellers have re-entered the market with renewed confidence and those vendors who have listed their home during the opening days of 2026 have been far less willing to budge on price.”

Vendors will negotiate

The firm’s data shows that 337,071 homes are available, with 125,216 now being offered below their original price.

That leaves more than one in three properties with room for negotiation at the start of 2026.

The South East leads on repricing, where 39% of homes on agents’ books carry a reduction.

The South West follows at 38.9%, with the East of England close behind on 38.4% and London records 37.9%.

However, despite that range of choice, signs suggest the trend is already easing.

The firm says that just 1,003 of the reduced-price homes entered the market during the first seven days of the year.

That, it says, reflects greater reluctance among new vendors to soften their stance, even though later adjustments remain possible.

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MPs clash over property income tax amid warnings it will hurt landlords and tenants

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MPs clash over property income tax amid warnings it will hurt landlords and tenants

A Conservative MP claims Labour’s decision to raise tax rates on property income will hurt renters and reduce rental supply.

The Autumn Budget increased tax rates on dividends, property, and savings income by 2 percentage points.

In a Parliamentary debate on the 2026-2027 income tax charge, the Conservatives argued that many landlords are ordinary people who will struggle to afford the higher taxes.

The Finance Bill 2026, which implements these Budget measures into law, included a proposed Conservative clause requiring the government to publish an assessment within six months of the impact of the new property income tax.

This clause was not agreed to, but could potentially be reinstated later in the parliamentary process.

Landlords are not people gaming the system

Speaking during the debate, Shadow Financial Secretary Gareth Davies, pointed out the government’s stereotype of landlords is far different than the reality.

He told MPs: “Government members may take great satisfaction in what could be described as a war on landlords, but we should pause and remind ourselves who many landlords are.

“They are not barons or vast landowners; they are ordinary people doing what we have encouraged them to do for decades: taking responsibility for their future. They are the couple, one parent works long hours in a steady job, and the other juggles work and family life, who save carefully and invest in a small property because they know that the state pension alone might not be enough when they retire.

“They are the retired couple who inherit a modest flat from their parents, a flat that is not a windfall, but a source of security in later life, and who rent it out to supplement a fixed income.

“These are not people gaming the system, as many Labour Members have tried to suggest in the past, but people responding to it. They are good people. Forty-four of them are Labour MPs.”

Mr Davies warns the measures will hurt landlords and tenants as he called for the government to publish an assessment of the impact of imposing new rates of income tax on property income.

He said: “This new tax does not just hit landlords, though, it hits renters, too. The British Property Federation and the Office for Budgetary Responsibility have both warned that this measure could restrict the supply of private rental properties, adding pressure to an already strained market.

“The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) both say that rents will rise faster as a direct result. New clause 12 in my name seeks to force the government not to rely on their stereotypes about landlords, but to assess the impact of their new renters’ tax on both the supply and cost of private rental properties.”

Not fair that renters pays a higher rate of tax on their income than landlords

The Exchequer Secretary, Dan Tomlinson, claimed the landlord tax rise is fair and reasonable and rejected the Conservatives’ clause calling for an impact assessment.

He said: “Those with property, savings or dividend income currently pay lower rates of tax than those whose income comes from employment as they do not pay national insurance contributions.

“It is not fair that the tax system treats these types of income so differently. For example, it is not fair that a renter pays a higher rate of tax on their income than the landlord from whom they are renting their property.”

He adds: “The shadow Financial Secretary raised the change landlord income tax, the two percentage point increase. I fully understand, as does he, that there are many reasons why people end up becoming landlords.

“We want to make sure that the taxation is fair and reasonable, which is why landlords do not pay national insurance in the way that their tenants do, and it is why we have taken steps to reduce, but not close in full, the gap in tax treatment, with the two percentage point increase. Landlords will still typically pay a lower rate of tax than their tenants, but the gap will be reduced following the measures set out in the Budget.”

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Housing Minister dismisses fears that regulation will force small landlords out

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Housing Minister dismisses fears that regulation will force small landlords out

Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook has rejected claims that more regulation will drive small landlords out of the market.

During a debate in Parliament, Conservative MP Edward Leigh warned that imposing more regulations on small landlords would cause them to leave the private rented sector, ultimately harming vulnerable people.

However, Mr Pennycook said that “not all regulation is bad” and argued that under the Renters’ Rights Act, landlords would be able to rely on simpler grounds for possession.

Do not accept that all regulation is bad

In oral questions to the Housing, Communities and Local Government, Mr Leigh asked Mr Pennycook whether regulations could cause more harm than good.

He asked: “We all know that rent inflation is caused by over-demand and lack of supply, and we can agree on the need to address problems by building more houses and tackling immigration.

“Does the Minister agree that the more controls and regulations are imposed on landlords, particularly small landlords, the more they will get out of the rented sector altogether, causing less supply and rent inflation, which will hit vulnerable people?”

In response, Mr Pennycook claimed the build-to-rent market will form an important part of the market in the coming years.

He said: “I do not accept that all regulation is bad. In many ways, we have clarified and made simpler the grounds for possession that landlords can use under the Renters’ Rights Act, but he is absolutely right to say that we need more supply of all homes, including in the private rented sector, and that we need to support the build-to-rent sector, which will be an important part of the market in coming years.”

Government does not support rent controls

Elsewhere during the debate, Labour MP Dan Carden welcomed the Renters’ Rights Act power to tackle unfair rent increases but was concerned that market rents would be used as a benchmark to prevent unaffordable rents from rising, and called for rent controls.

In response, Mr Pennycook claimed rent controls were not part of the government’s plan.

He said: “We will of course, keep the implementation of the Act under continual review, but, as I have said, it allows tenants to challenge unreasonable rent increases at the first-tier tribunal, which will make a judgment on whether the increases are fair and meet that market-rate definition.

“We have, however, made it clear that the government do not support the introduction of rent controls, including rent stabilisation measures, for the reasons that we debated at some length during the passage of the bill.”

You can watch Mr Pennycook’s response to Conservative MP Edward Leigh below.

House_of_Commons_12_01_26_15_04_15(1)

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Two thirds of landlords plan limited company BTL purchases

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Two thirds of landlords plan limited company BTL purchases

Nearly two thirds of landlords expect their next buy to let purchase to be made through a limited company, research reveals.

According to Paragon Bank, the long-running shift away from personal ownership is far from over, with younger and newer investors driving the change.

The study shows 63% of landlords plan to acquire future rental homes using specialist purchase vehicles (SPV).

Change driven by taxation

Paragon’s managing director of mortgages, Louisa Sedgwick, said: “Our research shows how owning property via a limited company structure has become increasingly popular over the past decade, driven by changes in taxation.

“Nearly two thirds of landlords intend to make future purchases through limited companies, so we expect the overall proportion of property held within a company structure to increase steadily in the coming years, particularly when you include those landlords who will incorporate existing property from personal name.”

She added: “It’s encouraging to see that they will continue to adapt in this way, particularly the next generation of landlords who seem to have realised the potential benefits of this ownership structure early in their lettings business careers.”

Younger landlords keener

Polling more than 500 landlords, the headline figure masks sharp differences by age.

The lender found that appetite for company ownership is strongest among those at the start of their landlord careers.

The survey found that all of the respondents aged 25 to 34 said they would buy through a limited company.

Among landlords aged 35 to 44, the proportion drops to 82%, before falling again to 73% for those in the 45 to 54 bracket.

Older cohorts remain more cautious, with 54% of 55- to 64-year-olds and 48% of landlords aged 65 to 75 planning to use SPVs for future purchases.

Limited company investment

The lender’s How limited company ownership is becoming the new normal report also points to further restructuring ahead.

Nearly a third of landlords, 32%, said they intend to move properties currently held in their own name into a company structure at some point.

Paragon’s analysis highlights how limited company ownership has risen consistently throughout the last 10 years.

It says there’s a pattern linked to tax reforms introduced in the mid-2010s.

With the ability to offset mortgage interest against rental income removed, many landlords have concluded that corporate structures offer a more workable long-term route.

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