Landlord press review: August 2026
Like every month, Rentila offers you an overview of the main real estate news of interest to landlords and tenants. This month, we focus on: House prices slump as Iran war and interest rates hit demand; Third of Brits worried extreme heat will impact property prices; Mortgage rates spike in yet another blow for UK borrowers; Pet-friendly searches drop as Renters’ Rights Act changes tenant behaviour; Labour urged to regulate private rents; Birmingham property investment: six reasons to look at the city now; Nine in 10 landlords no longer believe property will beat inflation… Happy reading and… renting!
The market
Annual house price growth is no longer guaranteed
Annual house price growth has become the exception rather than the rule, with fewer than one in seven homes rising in value in each of the past five years.
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London property values fall as global capital flows spread to other high-growth markets
A new research finds that London was one of only two cities among ten major global real estate markets to record a fall in prime residential prices between 2020 and 2024, even as cities with active investment migration programmes, including Dubai and Athens, delivered some of the strongest returns in the sample…
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House prices slump as Iran war and interest rates hit demand
House prices slumped in July after the Iran war and higher interest rates squeezed demand and triggered a slowdown in sales.
Annual house price growth slowed to 1.8 last month, down from 2.2 per cent the prior month.
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UK build-to-rent sector suffers one of its steepest slowdowns yet
Build-to-rent housing starts outside London fell 84 per cent in the year to June 2026.
Across the UK, new build-to-rent starts dropped 79 per cent over the same period.
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Third of Brits worried extreme heat will impact property prices
A national survey, commissioned by UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association, showed 33 per cent of people were worried that rising risks of fire, flash floods, overheating and subsidence, driven by hotter temperatures, could negatively impact the price of their properties over time.
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UK house price growth falls to weakest level since November 2023
The average UK home was valued at £299,253 in July, down £143 from the previous month after a modest 0.2 per cent rise in June. Annual house price growth eased to 0.1 per cent, marking the weakest increase since November 2023.
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Average price tag on a home plunges by £7,360 in August
The average price tag on a home coming on the market nosedived by more than £7,000 in August, according to figures from a property website.
Rightmove has also downgraded its house price forecast for 2026 from a 2% increase to a change of between zero and a 2% fall in average new seller asking prices over the year as a whole.
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UK house prices suffer worst August fall since 2018 as landlords squeeze sellers
House sellers in Britain’s wealthiest borough have slashed asking prices by almost £100,000 in a month as fierce competition benefits opportunistic buy-to-let investors.
Average newly listed asking prices across Britain fell by 2% in August to record the largest monthly drop in eight years.
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Homes taking longer to sell in hundreds of UK areas as property market divides
More than half of homes in England and Wales are taking longer to sell this summer due to higher mortgage rates, claims Zoopla.
Data from the property portal reveals homes in 180 of 363 local authorities are taking longer to sell this summer…
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Mortgage
Mortgage rates spike in yet another blow for UK borrowers
Mortgage rates have climbed to their highest point in a month, with the average two-year fixed deal reaching 5.59 per cent and the average five-year deal at 5.61 per cent.
The rise in rates is primarily linked to a re-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, particularly the US-Iran conflict…
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Bank of England holds rates at 3.75%
The Bank of England held Bank Rate at 3.75% on 30 July 2026, but the vote was closer than it looked on the surface. Three members of the Monetary Policy Committee wanted an immediate rise to 4.00%, up from two dissenters in June. The hold came against a backdrop of volatile energy prices linked to the conflict in the Middle East.
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Nationwide cuts mortgage rates for first-time buyers, home movers and people remortgaging
Nationwide will be cutting rates across its fixed mortgage range, supporting first-time buyers, home movers and people remortgaging. The new rates will be effective from Tuesday 4 August.
These latest changes will see rates reduced by up to 0.19 percentage points across two-, three- and five-year fixed rate products. This now means Nationwide’s lowest rate stands at 4.52%.
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Remortgage searches rise 7% as July Mortgage Market splits between refinancing and cautious buyers
July’s mortgage market presented a tale of two halves, with remortgage activity continuing to strengthen while purchase and buy-to-let searches eased as borrowers navigated affordability pressures and the usual summer slowdown.
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Fall in mortgage arrears and home repossessions in ‘encouraging’ figures
The number of homes being repossessed has fallen, despite financial squeezes on homeowners and landlords.
Some 1,150 homeowner mortgaged properties were repossessed in the second quarter of 2026, which was 8% less than in the previous quarter and 14% less than the same period a year earlier…
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Rent
Pet-friendly searches drop as Renters’ Rights Act changes tenant behaviour
The number of tenants searching for pet-friendly properties has dropped following the introduction of the Renters’ Rights Act, according to new data.
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London leads July’s UK rent growth
Average rents across the UK rose to £1,369 a month in July, up 1.2% from £1,353 in June, according to the latest HomeLet figures.
The average was 4.3% higher than the £1,313 recorded in July last year.
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Labour urged to regulate private rents
Calls for the Labour government to regulate private rents have intensified after polling found strong public backing for government intervention.
57% of private renters and 49% of the public regard affordability as the biggest problem facing tenants.
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Government hints at further action on short-term lets
The government claims it is taking action to tackle the impact of short-term lets.
In response to a written parliamentary question, Labour’s Baroness Taylor of Stevenage said the government would review additional measures aimed at giving councils greater powers to tackle the pressures caused by short-term lets.
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Renters’ Rights Act sparks rise in pet ownership
Millions of renters have welcomed a pet or are planning to get one following the Renters’ Rights Act.
Data from Simply Business reveals, since the Act came into force in May, nearly half of renters (44%) have taken on a pet.
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Rent arrears slump to record low
Research by Paragon Bank reveals the second quarter of 2026 saw 26% of landlords report experiencing rent arrears during the past 12 months. This was down by four percentage points from 30% in the first quarter of the year to mark the lowest level.
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Advice
Why every landlord should prioritise electrical appliance inspections
London’s private rental sector houses close to 900,000 tenanted properties. That makes it the largest concentration of rented homes anywhere in the United Kingdom. Inside each of those properties sits a quiet risk that many landlords overlook: the portable electrical appliances they supply for tenant use.
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Renters’ Rights Act 2026: what landlords need to know about evictions, rent rises, pets and insurance
The Renters’ Rights Act has transformed the private rental market, introducing major changes to evictions, rent increases, pets and tenant protections. Here’s what landlords need to know—and why reviewing insurance should be part of the process.
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Birmingham property investment: six reasons to look at the city now
Birmingham has long been one of the UK’s largest housing and rental markets, but there are some particularly strong reasons for investors to be looking at the city now.
Major regeneration is changing substantial parts of the city centre, new rail and tram connections are opening up neighbourhoods across Birmingham…
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Other
Nine in 10 landlords no longer believe property will beat inflation
For decades, the case for buy to let rested on one quiet assumption: that property values would rise over time. New survey data suggests landlords have stopped believing it.
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95% of landlords say they understand the rules. 96% are worried they’ll still get it wrong
The survey of more than 500 UK landlords and property-sector decision-makers found insurance providers and brokers are the most common source of information on regulatory change, cited by 31% of respondents, with research conducted between May 21 and June 1, 2026, as landlords adapted to the Renters’ Rights Act.
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Regional variations are reshaping landlord investment strategies
Regional differences are playing an increasingly important role in shaping landlord strategy across the UK, according to the latest Pegasus Insight Landlord Trends report.
The research shows the buy-to-let sector remains resilient overall in Q2 2026, with landlords reporting an estimated portfolio value of £1.8m, gross rental income of £12,007 per property and average rental yields of 6.4%.
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How a ‘model tenant’ secretly turned a family home into an HMO
A landlord who believed he had found an ideal tenant was later threatened with substantial financial penalties after his property was secretly converted into an unlicensed house in multiple occupation (HMO).
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Why do women need 12 times their salary to buy a home, when men need only eight?
Home ownership has become much more challenging globally in the last few years. Rising interest rates, persistent inflation and the ongoing cost of living crisis seen in many parts of Europe have made this dream considerably harder to attain for several young people.
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