Apr

Sky News Section 21 story suggests a deeper problem to me

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Sky News Section 21 story suggests a deeper problem to me

Did you see the recent Sky News coverage that linked to Property118? It was about landlords rushing to serve Section 21 notices before the 1 May changes.

When a significant legal change is approaching, it is only natural that some landlords will focus on what can still be done before the new rules take effect, but I believe the Sky News story, and many others like it, point to something much deeper. For many landlords, the real issue is not simply whether Section 21 can still be used in time; it is whether their property business, as it stands today, still works for the next phase of life, family responsibility, and risk.

That’s why the Sky News article felt to me like the real story here sits much deeper than just a possession issue. That’s the top of the iceberg in my opinion, and yours too, it seems, based on the recent Property118 landlord sentiment survey. I think the number of s21’s issued recently is really about whether the business still works. What do you think?

From control to continuity

The real question is no longer just whether one legal route remains available; it is whether the business itself is still resilient, manageable, and fit for purpose if circumstances change. That is why, in my opinion, this is beginning to look like more than a possession story.

Many landlords continue operating on assumptions that made sense years ago, but which may no longer reflect current realities. That does not mean the original strategy was wrong; it means the business may now need a different kind of plan.

A portfolio is not always a plan

This is where I believe many landlords get caught out, because owning property is not the same as having a strategy and having equity is not the same as having clarity, and having rental income is not the same as having a business model that still works. A portfolio can have substantial value and still lack continuity, and it can produce income and still create strain.

A rental property business might well represent years of effort and success, yet still leave basic questions unanswered.

What happens if the owner becomes ill?
What happens if they die unexpectedly?
Would a spouse or child know what to do next?
Would the business continue in an orderly way, or quickly turn into a series of decisions made under pressure?

The loneliness of being a landlord

Landlording can be a lonely profession. Most of us carry strategic, financial, and family pressures without a trusted sounding board. You may well have a broker, accountant, solicitor, and maybe even a letting agent, but lot’s of landlords I speak to still feel that nobody is previously ever helped them to step back and look at the whole picture in a joined up way.

What most landlords tell me about the realities of working with multiple professional advisers is that the discussions are often fragmented. One conversation may be about tax, another about refinancing, another about tenants, another about wills or succession, and yet another about whether to hold or sell. Very few landlords I’ve ever spoken to have ever managed to find a person like me before who can join up all of this thinking for them.

Asking better questions

If the real issue is one difficult tenancy, then the immediate legal question is exactly the right one, but for many landlords, the pressure is broader than that.

The rush to serve s21 notices, as reported by Sky News, may be linked not only to possession, but also to concern about future regulation, weaker cash flow than expected, financing costs, operational fatigue, retirement planning, succession, legacy or uncertainty about what the portfolio is ultimately for.

When landlords focus only on the immediate legal mechanics, they may miss the larger issue, and for many, the real pressure is not one tenancy, it is that the current business model no longer feels fully aligned with their stage of life. For others, it is the growing realisation that a portfolio built over many years may still have no clear continuity plan attached to it. Doing nothing is also a decision, but rarely a good one.

Landlords now need to ask better, more strategic questions than the headlines alone suggest, and if they don’t know what questions they should be asking, they need to read Property118 a lot more, or arrange a free initial consultation with a specialist landlord consultant like me.

As a Property118 consultant, I have spent many years supporting landlords through changing market conditions, not just by looking at isolated technical issues, but by helping them step back and consider the bigger picture. In practice, these issues rarely sit in neat compartments. Cash flow, financing, continuity, succession, structure, family pressure, and quality of life are often closely connected.

A landlord who thinks they have a tenant problem may really have a strategic planning problem. A landlord who thinks they have a tax problem may actually have a continuity problem. A landlord who feels they need to act quickly may really need to think more clearly. That is why a joined up approach matters.

For some landlords, the priority may be simplification, for others, it may be continuity, or it might also be a desire for stronger cash flow, lower risk, or greater clarity around the next stage. The point is not that every landlord needs the same solution, it is that many landlords now need a more joined up plan than they currently have.

A shift in emphasis

The recent attention on Section 21 may yet prove to be about more than a legal deadline.

It may also be highlighting a wider shift in landlord thinking, from reaction to reflection, from individual problems to overall strategy and from accumulation alone to continuity, clarity, and resilience. In that sense, the real issue is not simply whether Section 21 notices can still be used before the deadline; it is whether the business still works.

If this article has made you question whether your current property business is still fit for purpose for you, your family, or the next stage of life, I would like to help you to step back, assess your wider position, and move from uncertainty to a clearer strategic plan. Sometimes the most valuable decision is not the next tactical move, but taking the time to think strategically before making it.

Kind regards

Swati Sammant-Mayger, ATT – Founder Property118 consultant and your fellow portfolio landlord

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