Renting Done Right
The rental market is nearing a crisis. A mix of rising costs, interest rates, and governmental policy changes are resulting in landlords leaving the sector, less housing supply, and rents rising for tenants.
We want a fairer rental sector. One that is beneficial for letting agents, landlords and tenants. We want to ensure the rental sector remains an attractive place to invest for landlords without relying on skyrocketing rents.
At Goodlord, we are focused on bringing stakeholders from government and other companies in the private rented sector to encourage positive change. Together, we want Renting Done Right.

An ecosystem out of balance
Demand from tenants continues to increase, while availability of rental stock struggles. This means that there aren’t enough properties in the private rented sector to keep up with demand.
In our 2023 State of the Lettings Industry report, we found that more than three-quarters of letting agents saw an increased demand for homes in 2023, while 58% saw fewer properties available.
One reason for the dwindling availability of homes is the fact that existing landlords are leaving the sector, and there are not enough new landlords to replace them.
There are many factors to this - from increased financial pressures on landlords to concerns over upcoming policy changes set out in the Renters (Reform) Bill.

Our work

Sharing evidence with policymakers, that was cited in the Commons Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee’s report on reforming the private rented sector.

Championing an open letter to the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, which was signed by 1,100 letting agents, landlords, and tenants.

Holding focus groups for tenants, landlords, and letting agents to gather their recommendations and insights about the future of the private rented sector.

Producing a Renting Done Right manifesto that was presented to the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in May 2023.

Holding an industry event that brought together more than 70 senior stakeholders to discuss pressures on the sector.

More support, more consistency, more incentives
At Goodlord, we believe that policymakers should focus on incentivising positive outcomes that they wish to encourage - rather than penalising bad practices with prescriptive regulation or bans.
Being a landlord is a business - with more than 97 pieces of compliance that landlords need to fulfil to rent a property. We support measures that will help raise professional standards - such as the proposed Property Portal and ombudsman.
However, landlords need to be able to operate in a market where they are incentivised to make improvements.

Increased Transparency
Data empowers us to make the best decisions. Letting agents, landlords, and tenants should have access to as much information as possible to make informed choices.
We support moves from the Government to introduce registers, such as on short-term lets, that will increase transparency about the broader housing market.
Digitalisation of the sector
We live in a digital era but the private rented sector is still reliant on paper-based, manual processes. Policy should focus on enabling the use of digital solutions and finding ways of working that are faster, cheaper, and easier for tenants and property professionals.
For example, the English government has interpreted the use of e-Money accounts differently to the authorities in Scotland. This is blocking innovation in England among rental technology providers, with tenants suffering as a result

Find out more
What can agents do about unsustainable pressures in the private rental sector?