Letting Agents

How Letting Agents Can Win More Landlord Instructions in a Shrinking Market

Rent Rewards Editorial·8 min read·May 2026

Key Takeaways

• New landlord instructions hit a net balance of -17% in May 2026, the weakest reading since the pandemic, according to RICS
• 50% of landlords now use an agent to find tenants - up from previous years - as RRA complexity drives demand for professional management (Propertymark, 2026)
• Only 49% of tenants in agent-managed properties feel their landlord cares about service quality, versus 76% with direct landlords - closing this gap is a direct lever for winning and keeping instructions
• Average time to let has risen to 20 days and enquiries per property have dropped to 4.8, down from 6.5 a year ago - agents who retain good tenants hold real commercial value for landlords
• Five concrete actions agents can take right now to win new instructions and protect existing ones

The private landlord market is contracting. An estimated 93,000 buy-to-let landlords exited the UK market in 2025 (LandlordBuyer), and RICS data from May 2026 shows new landlord instructions at a net balance of -17% - the weakest reading since April 2020. For letting agents, the tension is acute: the pool of instructions is shrinking while the competition for each one is intensifying.

But the headline contraction story misses something important. The Renters' Rights Act, live from 1 May 2026, is making self-management considerably more complex, particularly for smaller and accidental landlords. Propertymark's January 2026 analysis of the English Private Landlord Survey found that 50% of landlords are now using an agent to find tenants - a figure that has grown steadily as regulatory burden increases. The agents who win the next wave of instructions will be those who understand exactly what landlords need right now, and can prove they can deliver it.

-17%

Net balance for new landlord instructions - weakest since April 2020

RICS UK Residential Market Survey, May 2026

50%

Of landlords now use an agent to find tenants, rising as RRA complexity grows

Propertymark / EPLS, January 2026

Understanding the Landscape: Who Is Actually Leaving

The landlord exit data is heavily concentrated among small, independent operators. Small landlords - those with one or two properties, often inherited or purchased as retirement income - make up 83% of all UK landlords by number, even though they control only 51% of tenancies (MHCLG English Private Landlord Survey, December 2025). 31% of remaining landlords are planning to reduce their portfolio size in the next two years. They are also the most sensitive to regulatory change and the least likely to have the infrastructure to manage compliance alone.

This is both the challenge and the opportunity. Agents who treat the loss of small landlords as inevitable will see their portfolio shrink. Those who position themselves as the solution to the compliance burden the Renters' Rights Act creates - particularly for landlords who have never used full management before - will find a genuine new pipeline of instructions among precisely the landlords most at risk of exiting.

"The market will increasingly favour either scaled, systemised operators able to absorb regulatory cost efficiently, or focused specialists with a clear niche and value proposition."

Goodlord, Private Rented Sector Predictions 2026, January 2026

The Tenant Satisfaction Gap - and Why It Decides Instructions

OSB Group's 2025 tenant research contains a finding that every letting agent should take seriously. Only 49% of tenants whose property is managed by a letting agent feel their landlord cares about the level of service they receive, compared to 76% of tenants who deal directly with their landlord. Similarly, 82% of tenants with direct landlord relationships describe their landlord as fair - a significantly higher rate than agent-managed tenancies.

This directly affects the ability of agents to retain landlord instructions. A landlord who receives complaints from their tenant about poor responsiveness is not one who will renew a management contract. Conversely, agents who can demonstrate measurably high tenant satisfaction have a concrete, evidence-based proposition to use at valuation stage. In a market where average time to let has risen to 20 days and enquiries per property have fallen from 6.5 to 4.8 (Zoopla, March 2026), being able to evidence tenant retention is a genuine commercial differentiator.

73%

Of tenants say they will not change their notice period behaviour after the move to periodic tenancies. Retaining good tenants is the new competitive battleground.

Goodlord State of the Lettings Industry, 2025

Five Concrete Ways to Win Instructions Right Now

Understanding the market is one thing. Doing something about it is another. Here are five actions letting agents can take in 2026 to win new landlord instructions and protect the ones they already have.

1. 1

   Run a Renters' Rights Act outreach campaign to self-managing landlords

   The most immediate pipeline of new full-management instructions is sitting in your local market right now: landlords who have been self-managing and who now face a compliance environment they did not sign up for. Section 21 is gone, rent increases follow a statutory process, and periodic tenancies mean landlords can no longer rely on the end of a fixed term as a convenient exit point. Create a free briefing or written guide on what the Renters' Rights Act means for self-managing landlords in your area, and distribute it through local landlord groups, social media, and direct mail to known self-managing addresses. The ask is not "switch to us" - it is "let us show you what we know". The instructions follow from the expertise.

2. 2

   Rebuild your fee structure around ongoing value, not fixed-term events

   The Renters' Rights Act eliminates the renewal and re-letting events that many agents relied on for revenue. Propertymark notes that professional agents should treat this as an opportunity to redesign fee schedules around ongoing compliance advice, proactive maintenance management, and tenant relationship support - the services landlords actually value in a periodic tenancy world. Agents who can articulate what full management delivers month-to-month, rather than event-by-event, will find it easier to justify their fee and harder to be undercut on price alone.

3. 3

   Quantify your tenant retention and use it in every valuation

   With average tenancy lengths at 3 years (DPS, 2025) and the cost of a void period typically running to one to two months' rent, tenant retention has a direct financial value that most agents have never bothered to put a number on. Calculate your average void period, your renewal rate, and your tenant satisfaction score. Then bring those numbers to every landlord valuation. "Our managed properties average 14 fewer void days per year than the market average" is worth more to a cost-conscious landlord than any marketing claim about reach or response times.

4. 4

   Add a tangible tenant benefit to your management proposition

   The 49% tenant satisfaction score in agent-managed properties is not inevitable - it is an operational gap that the best agents are already closing. One of the most effective ways to improve tenant experience without increasing workload is to add a rewards or cashback proposition that gives tenants real financial value. With UK average rents at £1,325 PCM (HomeLet, April 2026), tenants are under sustained pressure on household costs. An agent who offers tenants access to genuine savings on everyday spending is offering something tangible that most competitors are not - and that landlords can see reflected in longer tenancies and fewer management issues.

5. 5

   Build a structured referral engine from your existing landlord base

   The most credible instruction you can win comes from another landlord. If your current landlords are satisfied, they almost certainly know other landlords - but most agents have never created a formal mechanism to capture that referral potential. Introduce a simple landlord referral scheme: a written thank you, a service credit, or a discounted management month for every successful new instruction referred. Combine it with a regular landlord newsletter that demonstrates your market knowledge and positions your agency as the expert of choice. In a market where new instructions are structurally constrained, maximising the yield from your existing relationships is the highest-return activity available.

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What Landlords Actually Want From Their Agent in 2026

The shift in what landlords want from their agent has been accelerated by the Renters' Rights Act. Speed of response, clear communication, and professional marketing have always mattered. In 2026, two priorities are dominating landlord conversations: compliance confidence and tenant retention. Landlords who are staying in the market are doing so in a more regulated environment, with greater exposure to risk if things go wrong, and less ability to exit a difficult tenancy quickly. The agent who can credibly say "we will keep you compliant, and we will keep you in good tenants" is meeting the brief that landlords actually have.

Veco Plus's 2026 analysis of instruction-winning strategies identifies consistency and systems as the core differentiator, particularly for multi-branch or growing agencies. The agents winning instructions are not necessarily the cheapest or the most prominent - they are the ones who demonstrate, from the first interaction, that they have processes in place that protect the landlord's investment, handle compliance proactively, and deliver a high standard of tenant service as a matter of routine rather than effort.

Tenant Satisfaction as a Pitch Tool

With 5.6 million private renters across the UK and homes taking an average of 20 days to let (Zoopla, March 2026), the cost of poor tenant retention is significant and quantifiable. Agents who can show their average void period, renewal rate, and tenant satisfaction scores are turning what was previously an intangible into a concrete commercial argument for full management.

What This Means for Letting Agents in 2026

The instructions are there, but they require a different pitch than before. The landlords coming into full management for the first time because of the Renters' Rights Act are not primarily motivated by yield maximisation - they are motivated by risk reduction and peace of mind. They want compliance handled, tenants managed professionally, and an expert in their corner when things go wrong.

The agents who will win those instructions are the ones who can speak the landlord's language in 2026: compliance, retention, evidence. Not "we will get you a great tenant quickly", but "we will keep your good tenants, keep you compliant, and show you the data to prove it." In a shrinking market, the winners will be defined not by how many landlords they have, but by how well they serve the ones they do - and how effectively they demonstrate that to the ones they are trying to win.

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Sources

1. RICS UK Residential Market Survey - Letting Agent TodayRICS / Letting Agent Today. May 2026. Source for new landlord instructions net balance -17%.
2. Propertymark - National Survey Data Reveals Shift in Landlord Business ModelsPropertymark. January 2026. Source for 50% of landlords using agents to find tenants; business structure shifts in PRS.
3. Zoopla Rental Market ReportZoopla. March 2026. Source for 4.8 enquiries per property (down from 6.5), average 20 days to let, rents +1.9% year-on-year.
4. HomeLet Rental IndexHomeLet. April 2026. Source for UK average rent of £1,325 PCM, up 2.1% year-on-year.
5. LandlordBuyer - UK Landlord Exodus: 93,000 Left in 2025LandlordBuyer. December 2025. Source for 93,000 landlord exits in 2025.
6. MHCLG - English Private Landlord Survey 2024MHCLG. December 2025. Source for 31% of landlords planning to reduce portfolio; small landlords comprising 83% of landlords by number.
7. OSB Group - Tenant Research 2025OSB Group. 2025. Source for 49% vs 76% tenant perception of landlord care (agent-managed vs direct).
8. Goodlord - Private Rented Sector Predictions 2026Goodlord. January 2026. Source for 73% of tenants not changing notice period behaviour; market consolidation analysis.
9. Veco Plus - 10 Ways Letting Agents Can Win More Instructions in 2026Veco Plus. January 2026. Source for consistency and systems as core differentiators for instruction-winning agents.
10. Deposit Protection Service (DPS)DPS. 2025. Source for average tenancy length of 3 years.