When 83% of landlords are planning rent rises at the same time as 40% are downbeat about the sector, the data is not telling one story. It is telling two.
What Has Happened?
Landbay published its Q3 2026 landlord sentiment survey in the first week of November. The data covers responses from just under 2,000 UK landlords and runs quarterly comparisons against Q2 2026 figures. The results split in opposite directions depending on whether you look at the mood numbers or the intention numbers.
On sentiment, the proportion of landlords holding a negative view of the wider UK economy fell slightly, from 69% in Q2 to 65% in Q3. That is a small improvement. Negative sentiment about landlords' own buy-to-let businesses moved in the other direction, rising from 37% to 40%. Landlords are mildly less pessimistic about the economy but more pessimistic about their own portfolios. That divergence reflects specific pressures at the portfolio level rather than a general mood shift.
On intentions, 34% of landlords plan to expand their portfolios in the next 12 months. The majority, 56%, have no plans to buy further properties, up from 52% the previous quarter. On the selling side, 43% have no plans to sell and 39% expect to sell at least one property in the next year. Neither figure has swung dramatically quarter on quarter, but the direction on both metrics is consistent.
Rents and refinancing are where the most striking numbers sit. Eighty-three percent of landlords expect to raise rents in the next 12 months, up from just over 75% in the previous survey. The same data found 59% planning to refinance within the year, with 38% expecting to stay with their existing lender when they do. That refinancing figure matters: it lands directly alongside the Bank of England's decision to raise the base rate to 4.00% on 5 November and the roughly £62bn of BTL fixed-rate mortgages that Paragon Bank identified as maturing by August 2027.
On regulation, more than half of UK landlords told Landbay that the Renters' Rights Act has had a negative effect on their buy-to-let business since its main provisions came into force on 1 May 2026. Those provisions include the abolition of Section 21 no-fault evictions, mandatory rolling tenancies replacing fixed-term contracts, and the new Section 13 tribunal route for disputed rent increases.
Why This Matters to UK Property Investors
The 83% rent-rise figure matters to investors for a reason that rarely features in mainstream coverage. Rents are rising not because landlords decided to get more aggressive. They are rising because costs have increased faster than rents have been able to keep up over the past three years. Section 24 mortgage interest restrictions, the base rate cycle, the compliance burden from the Renters' Rights Act, and confirmed income tax rises from April 2027 have collectively eroded operating margins. For most of this 83%, raising rents is not a commercial strategy. It is the only lever left.
For the buy-to-let market as a whole, that dynamic reinforces the yield case in higher-income regions. In Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Bradford and Stoke-on-Trent, gross BTL yields on standard residential stock are running at 7% to 9.5%. Rents rising in those markets on top of an already strong yield base improves the investment case for buyers entering now, particularly for those using a limited company structure where the tax rate is 25% rather than 44% or 49% under the April 2027 personal rates.
The 34% planning portfolio expansion is the other side. One in three landlords surveyed is still moving forward with acquisitions. After a year of Section 21 abolition, two rounds of Budget tax rises, rising interest rates and a Renters' Rights Act that more than half of respondents say has hurt their business, a third are still buying. That is not an expression of optimism about policy direction. It is a calculation that the yields available today, particularly in northern and Midlands markets, outweigh the headwinds when the structure is right.
The refinancing data adds context. With 59% of landlords planning to remortgage within 12 months, the mortgage market is absorbing a significant volume of transactions. Accord cut some two-year BTL rates this week. The Mortgage Works added tracker products for limited company landlords. Pricing is not improving fast, but lenders are still competing for BTL business rather than withdrawing from it.
The Risks Investors Need to Understand
The 39% planning to sell at least one property in the next 12 months is the clearest risk signal in the survey. That is a large volume of potential supply. Some of it goes to other investors, some to owner-occupiers. In areas where landlord supply is already rising, additional stock from motivated or forced sellers can slow rental price growth, working against the rent-rise expectations the same survey captures. The two data points are not in contradiction, but they do limit each other.
The Renters' Rights Act effect on cashflow is real and the survey confirms it is widely felt. More than half of landlords reported a negative business impact since May 2026. The practical implications go beyond the headlines. Finding qualified tenants under rolling tenancy rules takes more time in many markets, extending void periods. Disputes that reach the Section 13 tribunal add legal costs and uncertainty. Early data from the tribunal service, covering the first 200 cases, showed 73% of landlord rent increase applications were reduced at tribunal. That is a material risk for the 83% planning to push rents up if tribunals continue to cut increases at that rate.
Refinancing concentration in early 2027 is the third risk. With 59% of landlords planning to remortgage within 12 months, and many of those deals tied to 2021/2022 five-year fixes at 2.5% to 3.5%, the pool of landlords who cannot sustain their portfolios under current rate conditions will become visible in Q1 and Q2 2027. That is a risk for them and a potential opportunity for buyers, but it creates a period of elevated selling activity that could temporarily weigh on prices in affected markets.
Sentiment is also a lagging indicator. The improvement from 69% to 65% negative on the broader economy is marginal. If the November base rate hike is followed by a second one in February 2027, as Oxford Economics projected, Q4 sentiment could easily reverse. Any acquisition thesis that depends on improving conditions rather than current yield and cashflow is fragile.
Where the Opportunity Could Be
The most direct opportunity sits inside the 39% planning to sell. Within that group, some landlords are selling because they have decided to exit BTL entirely after the tax and regulatory changes of the past 18 months. Those sellers are motivated and time-bound. Personal-name landlords who have run the April 2027 tax calculation and want out before the new rates take effect are likely to price for a quick sale rather than a prolonged marketing campaign. That urgency is valuable to a buyer who has finance arranged and can move quickly.
For limited company buyers or cash buyers in northern and Midlands markets, those sellers offer the best acquisition conditions of the current cycle. The Landbay data shows that pessimistic landlords are still generating rental income and planning to raise rents. A property that stops working in a personal-name tax structure at 44% or 49% can still work in a company structure at 25% corporation tax. Same asset, different owner, different tax rate on the income it produces.
The 83% rent-rise expectation, if it converts into actual increases, also improves the yield picture for buyers entering markets now. A Birmingham terrace trading at £130,000 with a current rent of £800 per month produces 7.4% gross yield. If rents rise by 4% in the next year, the same property acquired at that price yields 7.7%. Locking in the purchase price before the rent cycle flows through makes the acquisition thesis stronger, not weaker.
The refinancing activity also creates a secondary opportunity. When 38% of landlords plan to stay with their existing lender at refinancing, competition for that tranche of business is limited on the borrower side. Specialist lenders competing for new limited company BTL applications are still cutting rates actively. That gap in pricing between new applications and roll-over business is wide enough to justify using a specialist broker who can access the whole market.
Arsh's Investor View
The 83% rent rise figure is the one I keep coming back to. That is not a forecast, it is an intention. And it comes from landlords who are, by their own admission, 40% negative about their own businesses. When people who are downbeat about their situation are still planning to push rents up by that margin, the pressure on operating margins is genuine and widespread. This is not about greed, it is arithmetic.
I have seen these patterns before. After the 2015 Summer Budget announced Section 24, every survey showed rising pessimism. And then over the following two years, professional landlords quietly bought the exits at better yields while the headlines focused on doom. I am not claiming 2026 is a direct repeat of that. The Renters' Rights Act is a more fundamental structural shift than Section 24 was, and the rate environment is worse. But the basic logic of buying from motivated personal-name sellers into a company structure at current yields holds up.
Thirty-four percent of landlords expanding their portfolios is not a small number. That is one in three. They are doing it in a market with higher rates, higher taxes and new compliance requirements. They are doing it because the yield gap between holding cash or equities and holding property in the right postcode still justifies the complexity. I think they are right, with the qualifier that the structure matters enormously right now.
What the survey does not capture is where the best deals are coming from. Not the properties already on Rightmove with an agent value and a full marketing pack. The deals I am most interested in are from landlords in the 39% planning to sell who have not yet decided to list. Those conversations, through sourcer networks and direct landlord-to-landlord channels, are where Q4 2026 moves fastest for a prepared buyer.
How Property Investor App Can Help
Property Investor App lists landlord-to-landlord deals across the UK, including motivated sellers working through the same calculations the Landbay survey describes. For investors looking to acquire before the main refinancing wave hits the market in Q1 2027, PIA's search tools let you filter by region, property type and gross yield across northern and Midlands markets where the acquisition case is strongest. PIA also connects investors with specialist limited company BTL brokers who have access to current product ranges from lenders like Paragon, Foundation Home Loans and Precise. Browse UK property investment opportunities on Property Investor App.
Key Takeaways
- Landbay's Q3 2026 survey of just under 2,000 UK landlords found 40% are now negative about their own buy-to-let businesses, up from 37% in Q2 2026. Negative views of the wider UK economy eased slightly from 69% to 65%, showing the pressure is felt most sharply at portfolio level rather than from the broader economy.
- Eighty-three percent of landlords surveyed intend to raise rents in the next 12 months, up from just over 75% in Q2. The increase reflects genuine margin pressure from Section 24 restrictions, rising financing costs, Renters' Rights Act compliance requirements, and confirmed income tax rises for individual landlords from April 2027.
- Thirty-four percent plan to expand their portfolios in the next year, while 56% have no acquisition plans (up from 52%). One in three landlords is still buying despite the regulatory and tax environment, concentrated in higher-yield northern and Midlands markets where the investment case holds up at current financing costs.
- Thirty-nine percent expect to sell at least one property in the next 12 months. Personal-name landlords who have calculated the April 2027 tax impact represent a time-bound motivated seller pool for limited company and cash buyers, particularly in lower-yield markets where the personal-name case has weakened most.
- Fifty-nine percent of landlords plan to refinance within the year. With the Bank of England raising rates to 4.00% on 5 November and roughly £62bn of BTL fixed-rate mortgages maturing by August 2027 (Paragon Bank data), landlords coming off 2021/2022 fixes at 2.5% to 3.5% face a significantly worse refinancing environment than their original models assumed.
- More than half of landlords say the Renters' Rights Act has had a negative effect on their business since its main measures came into force on 1 May 2026. These include the abolition of Section 21 no-fault evictions, mandatory rolling tenancies, and the Section 13 tribunal process for disputed rent increases.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the Landbay Q3 2026 landlord survey find about UK landlord sentiment?
Landbay's Q3 2026 survey of just under 2,000 UK landlords found that 40% now hold a negative view of their own buy-to-let businesses, up from 37% in Q2 2026, while 65% are negative about the wider UK economy, down from 69%. Despite the pessimism, 34% plan to expand their portfolios in the next 12 months and 83% intend to raise rents, up from just over 75% in the previous survey. The survey was published in early November 2026.
Why are 83% of landlords planning to raise rents in 2026 and 2027?
The Landbay data points to a combination of cost pressures rather than deliberate commercial strategy. Mortgage financing costs have risen substantially since 2021 and 2022 fixes were taken out, with BTL five-year fixed rates currently running at 5.75% to 6.25%. Section 24 restricts mortgage interest relief for personal-name landlords to a 20% basic-rate credit rather than a full deduction. Income tax on rental profits rises again from April 2027 to 24%, 44% or 49% for individual landlords. Renters' Rights Act compliance costs have added to operating expenses since May 2026. Raising rents is the primary available mechanism for maintaining net cashflow against those rising costs.
Is November 2026 a good time to buy buy-to-let with 40% of landlords feeling negative about the sector?
Whether it works depends on the specific deal, not on aggregate sentiment. The Landbay survey shows 34% of landlords are still expanding, suggesting a large minority find the numbers viable, particularly in higher-yield northern and Midlands markets where gross yields of 7% to 9.5% are available on standard residential stock. The case for buying is strongest when it is based on current yield and cashflow at current financing costs, not on a projection of improving conditions. Motivated sellers from the 39% planning to sell represent the most accessible pipeline for buyers in Q4 2026, especially where a limited company structure allows the buyer to absorb the same asset at a 25% corporation tax rate rather than the 44% or 49% the seller faces from April 2027.
How does the Renters' Rights Act affect buy-to-let investment returns?
More than half of landlords surveyed by Landbay in Q3 2026 said the Renters' Rights Act has had a negative effect on their business since its main measures came into force in May 2026. The practical impacts include the removal of Section 21 no-fault evictions, mandatory rolling tenancies replacing fixed-term contracts, and the Section 13 tribunal process for disputed rent increases. Early data from the first 200 tribunal cases shows 73% of landlord rent increase applications were reduced at tribunal, which limits the ability to push through the increases 83% of landlords are planning.
What does the 59% BTL refinancing intention mean for the mortgage market in 2027?
If 59% of UK landlords refinance within the next year, the volume hitting the BTL mortgage market will be significant. Combined with the Paragon Bank estimate of roughly £62bn in fixed-rate BTL mortgages maturing by August 2027, lenders are competing for a large book of refinancing business. For landlords, this is a risk and a point of leverage simultaneously. The risk is refinancing at materially higher rates than the original fix. The leverage is that lenders competing for that volume are keeping product ranges active. Specialist lenders including Paragon, Foundation Home Loans and Precise have been making rate cuts alongside mainstream lender moves, creating options beyond the high-street product range for limited company landlords.
