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2025 Round-Up - Rents, Rules, Rates, and Reality
As we reach the final Property Quorum of the year, it feels like the right moment to pause and take stock. Not to draw neat conclusions, because property rarely offers those, yet to reflect on what has shaped the conversation over the past twelve months.
2025 has been a year of constant movement. Policy announcements have landed thick and fast, market confidence has wobbled, and many people across the sector have found themselves reacting rather than planning. Property Quorum has spent the year trying to slow that pace down just enough to make sense of it.
One of the dominant threads has been the Renters’ Rights Act. Its direction of travel is now clear, even if the detail still feels unsettled. The end of Section 21, stronger tenant protections, and changes to enforcement have all been discussed at length. For tenants, there is reassurance in greater security. For landlords, particularly smaller ones, there has been growing unease about risk, cost and control.
That unease has fed directly into another recurring topic – landlords selling up. Throughout the year we have talked about why many smaller landlords are choosing to exit. Rising mortgage costs, tax pressures, compliance demands and uncertainty have combined to make the sums harder to justify. The result has been fewer rental homes in some areas and increased pressure elsewhere, something that rarely helps tenants or local authorities.
Energy efficiency has also remained high on the agenda. EPC targets continue to loom large, even though clarity around reform of the EPC system itself remains elusive. Many landlords have spoken about the difficulty of planning improvements without confidence that today’s measures will still make sense tomorrow. It is another example of intention running ahead of delivery.
Alongside this, we have spent time on planning delays, housing supply and the challenge of delivering new homes at the pace promised. Local authorities are under strain, developers are cautious, and infrastructure often lags behind ambition. These pressures show up repeatedly, whether the conversation starts with housebuilding, affordability, or regeneration.
Conveyancing and transaction pressure has been another steady theme. More data, more forms and more checks have not always translated into smoother transactions. In some cases, the opposite has been true. The balance between transparency and overload continues to be a real issue for those trying to keep chains moving.
Throughout all of this, Property Quorum has been grounded by conversation rather than soundbites. Gareth Wax remains in the chair, with regular insight from Chris Gilsenan, Juliet Baboolal and Zahrah Aullybocus, and I have been alongside them as ever. The aim has never been to shout the loudest, instead to make space for experience, challenge and reflection.
As this final episode of the year, we will also spend time looking ahead. 2026 is already casting a long shadow. Further implementation of rental reform, ongoing pressure on supply, the future of smaller landlords, and whether confidence can return to parts of the market will all shape the months ahead. It will be interesting to see whether policy begins to settle, or whether uncertainty continues to be the defining feature.
Property rarely stands still, and neither does the conversation around it. This round-up feels less like an ending and more like a marker in the road.
Property Quorum airs live at 10am on Thursdays on the Spilling the Proper-Tea YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@SpillingTheProper-Tea
For content enquiries:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
For podcast and media enquiries:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
2025 has been a year of constant movement. Policy announcements have landed thick and fast, market confidence has wobbled, and many people across the sector have found themselves reacting rather than planning. Property Quorum has spent the year trying to slow that pace down just enough to make sense of it.
One of the dominant threads has been the Renters’ Rights Act. Its direction of travel is now clear, even if the detail still feels unsettled. The end of Section 21, stronger tenant protections, and changes to enforcement have all been discussed at length. For tenants, there is reassurance in greater security. For landlords, particularly smaller ones, there has been growing unease about risk, cost and control.
That unease has fed directly into another recurring topic – landlords selling up. Throughout the year we have talked about why many smaller landlords are choosing to exit. Rising mortgage costs, tax pressures, compliance demands and uncertainty have combined to make the sums harder to justify. The result has been fewer rental homes in some areas and increased pressure elsewhere, something that rarely helps tenants or local authorities.
Energy efficiency has also remained high on the agenda. EPC targets continue to loom large, even though clarity around reform of the EPC system itself remains elusive. Many landlords have spoken about the difficulty of planning improvements without confidence that today’s measures will still make sense tomorrow. It is another example of intention running ahead of delivery.
Alongside this, we have spent time on planning delays, housing supply and the challenge of delivering new homes at the pace promised. Local authorities are under strain, developers are cautious, and infrastructure often lags behind ambition. These pressures show up repeatedly, whether the conversation starts with housebuilding, affordability, or regeneration.
Conveyancing and transaction pressure has been another steady theme. More data, more forms and more checks have not always translated into smoother transactions. In some cases, the opposite has been true. The balance between transparency and overload continues to be a real issue for those trying to keep chains moving.
Throughout all of this, Property Quorum has been grounded by conversation rather than soundbites. Gareth Wax remains in the chair, with regular insight from Chris Gilsenan, Juliet Baboolal and Zahrah Aullybocus, and I have been alongside them as ever. The aim has never been to shout the loudest, instead to make space for experience, challenge and reflection.
As this final episode of the year, we will also spend time looking ahead. 2026 is already casting a long shadow. Further implementation of rental reform, ongoing pressure on supply, the future of smaller landlords, and whether confidence can return to parts of the market will all shape the months ahead. It will be interesting to see whether policy begins to settle, or whether uncertainty continues to be the defining feature.
Property rarely stands still, and neither does the conversation around it. This round-up feels less like an ending and more like a marker in the road.
Property Quorum airs live at 10am on Thursdays on the Spilling the Proper-Tea YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@SpillingTheProper-Tea
For content enquiries:
For podcast and media enquiries:
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