Latest Property News | Warwick Estate Agents

Details: Published: 26 May 2026; Hits: 507

Fewer than a third of landlords are fully aware that the Renters’ Rights Act bans advance rent payments of more than one month, according to new research from LRG.

The survey of 650 landlords and tenants across England and Wales found that 43% know the rules have changed but remain uncertain of the details, while 26% say the restriction is news to them entirely.

The findings come from LRG’s Spring 2026 Lettings Report, which draws on responses from landlords and tenants to examine how the private rental sector is adapting to the most significant legislative overhaul in a generation.

The Renters Rights Act abolishes fixed-term tenancies, introduces Assured Periodic Tenancies and bans advance rent payments beyond one month.

These changes represent a fundamental shift in how the private rental market operates – yet the majority of landlords are still getting to grips with what they mean in practice.

The concern is not that landlords oppose reform. It is those provisions designed to protect tenants that are already producing consequences that may work against the very people they were intended to help.

With advance rent restricted, 58% of landlords expect to receive more borderline or higher-risk applications – including 18% who anticipate significantly more.

Only 10% expect the quality of applicants to improve. Rather than opening the market to a wider range of tenants, the restrictions risk making landlords more cautious, not less.

The agency says the effect on landlord behaviour is already visible.

Some 38% of landlords say they are either reconsidering whether to continue letting at all or have become significantly more selective about who they accept – a meaningful tightening of the market at precisely the moment more tenants need access to it. A further 6% say they are slightly more selective.

The single most common response, cited by 42% of landlords, is to rely more heavily on their letting agent to screen applicants, underlining how central professional expertise has become to keeping the market functioning.

LRG insists that the risk of supply shrinking further is not theoretical.

It cites the English Private Landlord Service as revealing that the proportion of landlords intending to reduce their portfolios has risen steadily in recent years.

LRG’s own data adds a further dimension: 70% of landlords say they would not consider letting to a local council or housing association, and fewer than 1% currently do so.

For tenants who cannot compete in the open market, this effectively closes off one of the few alternative housing routes available to them.

Allison Thompson, chief lettings officer at Leaders – part of LRG – comments: “The Renters Rights Act has some genuinely important protections for tenants, and we support the direction of travel. But the data should give policymakers pause.

“When more than half of landlords expect to see higher-risk applications as a direct result of removing advance rent, and 17% are considering leaving the sector altogether, we have to ask whether the rules are working as intended.

“The tenants who most need stability are the same ones who will struggle most if supply contracts further. Agents have a critical role to play right now – helping landlords navigate the changes, stay in the market, and keep letting to a wide range of tenants.”

Details: Published: 08 May 2026; Hits: 561

Owners of older homes may have to spend an average of £10,700 to reach Energy Performance Certificate band C.

Band C is widely considered to be the minimum level of ‘good’ energy efficiency in a property and by the start of October 2030 all privately rented homes must reach this level.

Now an analysis by the Nationwide shows that to improve older properties, particularly those built before 1919, to band C is around £10,700. This is based on 2024 costs.

Properties built more recently tend to be more energy efficient, so fewer improvements are required in order to bring them up to C standard.

For example, the average cost to update a property constructed between 2003 and 2013, currently rated D-G, to C standard is just £2,500.

Detached and terraced houses continue to see the highest costs to improve to band C, while the cost to upgrade purpose-built flats is much lower.

Again, this is likely to reflect that relatively few measures will be required to update these, given that only a very small proportion are currently rated E-G.

While purpose-built flats make up nearly 30% of the private rented stock, a further third are terraced houses, which will require more investment to reach C standard.

Differences in the age and property type of the housing stock by region drive variations in the average cost to update a property.

The latest English Housing Survey data suggests the West Midlands and South West have the highest costs, while the costs tend to be lower in the North of England, in particular the North East.

The Nationwide urges caution when comparing the costs and benefits of making energy efficiency improvements, given the significant variation seen across location, age and type of property.

Details: Published: 15 April 2026; Hits: 577

England is facing a massive population boom, stretching housing demand even further.

Development consultancy Msrrons claims the number of households is projected to rise by 17% to 27.6m by 2040.

It warns that there’s a growing imbalance between supply and demand, with more than 1.3m households on local authority housing registers in 2025 and more than 320,600 social homes projected to be lost by 2040 if current trends continue.

The largest household growth is projected in the South West (20%), followed by the East Midlands, East of England, Greater London and the South East (18% each), while the North East is forecast to experience the slowest rise at 14%.

At the same time, the housing market faces a generational squeeze.

First-time buyer households (25-44) are set to grow by 14% to 16.1m, student-age and young professional households (19-24) by 9% to 710,800, and later living households (65+) by 36% to 9.4m.

Marrons says this is reshaping demand across all tenures and housing types.

Director Dan Usher comments: “We are heading towards a structural mismatch between the homes England needs and the homes being delivered. Household growth is accelerating across all age groups, but supply – particularly in social and affordable housing – is not keeping pace.

“The scale of projected losses to social housing, combined with record waiting lists, points to a system under sustained strain. Without intervention, affordability pressures will intensify and access to homeownership will become increasingly out of reach for many.

“The proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework, particularly policy HO7, place greater weight on delivering homes that meet evidenced need. This makes robust, up-to-date data more important than ever in supporting planning applications and unlocking sites.

“The challenge isn’t just how many homes are built but whether they reflect the way people actually live – and will live – in the years ahead. Without a step change in delivery, we risk locking in a housing crisis that will become far more difficult and costly to resolve.”

The firm’s updated study – Housing 2040: Phase II – provides a region-by-region snapshot of England’s projected housing needs.

Details: Published: 26 March 2026; Hits: 567

As upwards pressure grows on borrowing costs, there are questions over whether the Bank of England’s hawkish posture is sustainable.

Almost four weeks into the Middle East conflict, the Bank of England risks fighting its own inflation battle on the wrong front.

As oil and natural gas prices have surged, financial markets have bet central banks will need to raise rates to control inflation.

The Bank of England is expected to increase rates twice this year, which is a notable shift from the position at the end of February, when two cuts were priced in by financial markets.

Its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) surprised many by voting 9-0 to hold rates last week (with no dissenting votes to cut) and said it “stands ready to act” on inflation, which was widely interpreted to mean rate hikes were on the table.

The Bank may be scarred by the memories of double-digit inflation in 2022 and 2023, when it was arguably too slow to act.

However, underlying economic conditions are different today, which means raising rates could be a misstep.

“The Bank almost seems like they’re trying to fight the last war as opposed to this one,” said Pepperstone analyst Michael Brown, speaking on a Knight Frank podcast.

“However, almost every economic variable is in a very different, if not the exact opposite, place now compared to where it was in 2022.”

The UK economy is more susceptible to damage from rate hikes due to higher existing rates, a weaker labour market, lower GDP growth and a more punitive tax landscape than four years ago, says Brown.

Signs of De-escalation

US President Donald Trump announced this week that talks were taking place between the US and Iran.

Irrespective of the competing claims about how true this was, the statement itself was significant as the first sign of de-escalation from Trump, said Michael.

On the podcast, we also discussed how long the inflationary effects from the conflict could last, even if it ended tomorrow, the reasons the UK is more exposed than its G7 counterparts to higher borrowing costs, and whether the current reaction on financial markets could alter the thinking of potential Labour leadership challengers after the May local elections.

Rising swap rates have pushed fixed-rate mortgages higher in recent weeks, meaning most loans are currently priced above 4.3%, which is similar to the early weeks of 2025.

The two-year swap rate has climbed above the five-year rate in recent weeks, denoting the growing expectation of near-term upwards pressure on rates and the belief that any pressure will subsequently be downwards.

Alongside the negative impact on sentiment from the conflict, higher borrowing costs will put downwards pressure on UK housing transactions and prices in the short-term.

Bank of England figures show that mortgage approvals were 10% below the five-year average in January and transactions were 5% down, said HMRC.

Buyer Hesitation

Demand had been recovering following the November Budget, which caused hesitation among buyers due to the prolonged speculation over possible tax rises.

Meanwhile, UK house prices rose around 1% in the year to February, according to Halifax and Nationwide.

Growth was slightly down from the final months of last year as supply recovered from the Budget more quickly than demand.

Data in coming months will undoubtedly show a higher level of circumspection among buyers and sellers due to the Middle East conflict, which will also feed into the MPC’s thinking when it meets next on 30 April.

Another hold must be the most likely option next month.

Whether that is still the most probable outcome closer to the time or whether we see some MPC members vote for a cut depends on how de-escalatory Donald Trump’s latest social media post proves to be.

As Brown euphemistically states on the podcast, the conflict still has “a wide distribution of outcomes”.