In 2025 a fifth of landlords intend to downsize their property portfolios primarily due to the government's widely discussed Renters Rights Bill.

The Renters Bill went through its second reading the House of Lords this week on Tuesday 4th Feb and shortly after the chief executive of a finance firm presented findings from the company's latest survey of landlords in England.

Around 90% of respondents reported that they have maintained the size of their portfolios so far, while 7% have reduced theirs.

Looking ahead to the coming year, the outlook appears more concerning as around 21% of participants indicated that they plan to downsize their portfolios, with 75% opting to keep them and a minute 4% planning to increase them.

Among those intending to reduce their portfolio size this year, the primary reason cited is the anticipated changes from the forthcoming Renters Rights Bill.

The Labour government winning the general election was the second most influential factor, closely followed by the nearing retirement of the respondents.

When questioned about the most challenging aspects of the Renters' Rights Bill for landlords, the abolition of Section 21 'no fault evictions' emerged as the top concern."

Another significant challenge is prohibiting landlords from refusing to rent to individuals on benefits or with children, coupled with the elimination of short hold tenancies.

The chief executive of the finance firm, noted that while past predictions of a mass landlord exodus may have been overstated, the landscape is shifting in 2025.

“There’s no doubt that the government’s consistent campaign to deter landlords from the sector by way of legislative changes has had an impact and, in a market that is already drastically undersupplied, we simply can’t afford to drive away investors.

“Unfortunately, it looks as though more could choose to exit during 2025 and the key reason for this decision is the Renters’ Rights Bill. Whilst any improvements to tenant welfare are, of course, positive, the concern is that landlords have been largely ignored with respect to the intended changes.