Time to change the 'bad landlord' rhetoric – Hollands

However, recently, there have been increasing stories appearing in national press that are turning the tables on the ‘bad landlord’ rhetoric and demonstrating extended value through things like helping tenants settle in, shop for food and even set up a bank account.

Recently, we spoke to Chris, a 46-year-old rental tenant, who explained that his landlord has been more than accommodating.

He said: “Everything we’ve asked our landlord for has been delivered on. He seems really great and the house was in really good nick when we moved in, as it had been repainted and well looked after. I do think there’s a danger of ‘landlord bashing’, but at the end of the day, we are renting someone’s house. You need to consider both side[s] of the situation from a tenant and landlord perspective.”

OSB Group recently concluded the annual Landlord Leaders survey, in which we heard from 1,000 professional and non-professional landlords, who responded with growing year-on-year optimism for the private rented sector (PRS).

In that, 53% of professional landlords told us they were optimistic about the future of the PRS – a number that’s risen quite significantly from 46% in 2023.

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And it’s not just professional landlords who reported positively about the future of the PRS, as 40% of non-professional landlords – those with four or fewer properties – referred to feeling optimistic, in comparison to 38% the year prior.

As of 15 May 2025, the Renters’ Rights Bill completed the committee stage and has moved to the report stage, where the government will consider any required amendments following the examination by MPs during the committee stage.

Positive landlord outlook in spite of headwinds

The positive outlook comes at a time when landlords could feel hard done by, owing to headwind challenges such as tenant affordability and rising bills, which impact the bottom line.

Compounding that is the recent need for individual landlords to navigate complex tax challenges, and that’s led to buy-to-let (BTL) firms becoming the biggest single type of business in the UK registered at Companies House, according to new research by Hamptons.

It emphasises that if the tax changes had not come into effect, most BTL properties would have remained in personal ownership, and ties in with Landlord Leaders research that reports that 65% of landlords are taking action to professionalise through becoming a Ltd or incorporated company.

Marcus Newbold, a third-generation landlord with a portfolio of properties held in a corporate structure with his siblings, took the time to tell us how registering as a limited company worked for him.

He said: “It made sense all the way through the business for us – from how we were doing and overseeing maintenance to creating more formal agreements with letting agents. It is a mindset as well; it keeps you far more focused on what matters. And it made more sense to our accountants too. As the years have gone on, it has been the more obvious way to buy and own properties.”

Recent data also shows an evident shift towards incorporation among landlords with a limited company over the last five years, with the share of their properties held in this way increasing from 36% in Q1 2020 to 66% in Q1 2025. This increase continues to be driven by incorporation at the point of purchase, with the majority of new rental properties being bought by landlords with a limited company going into a business structure.

From this, we can take that while negative stories will still appear in the national press, landlords continue to be motivated and importantly are optimistically trying to change the national narrative, even with the cruel cards they’ve been dealt in recent times.