Landlords fear soaring demand for rental homes will favour “disreputable players” in the buy-to-let market, Getground data shows.  

Half of UK landlords say they have experienced a boost in tenant demand for their properties over the last 12 months, the BTL management firm points out in its snap poll.  

It adds that 69% of landlords believe that over the past year the balance of power between tenants and landlords has “shifted in favour of landlords”.   

The study continues that 81% of BTL owners worry that the lack of available rental housing threatens to allow “disreputable landlords to do harm to the rental market”.  

The poll finds that 57% of landlords say tenants are willing to pay higher rents to secure tenancies, 55% say renters will accept higher bills for utilities and 69% say tenants have accepted unplanned rent increases.  

It adds that only 13% of landlords think renters expect or demand more from their landlords in relation to their agreements.   

Similarly, 75% of landlords believe that, in light of the current supply and demand imbalance, tenants are having to be “less fussy or demanding” about their rental homes.  

UK rents hit £1,204 in October, the first time it has passed £1,200 in records kept by Hamptons, illustrating rising loan costs and high demand.  

This annual 7.1% rise, means renters are now paying £960 more per year than they did in 2021, said the estate agent.  

GetGround chief executive Moubin Faizullah Khan says: “With recent history as our guide, it’s easy to imagine how the private rental sector could be brought into disrepute by bad actors: disproportionately high rents, unexpected bill increases, unfairly terminated tenancies and so on.   

“Landlords and tenants alike need the right protections and safeguards to ensure none of this poor behaviour is able to happen, particularly as high mortgage and energy costs continue to put even more pressure on landlords to find means to stay solvent.”  

National Residential Landlords Association chief executive Ben Beadle adds: “GetGround’s snap poll data highlights a perfect storm that’s coming, combining the increased cost of living with rising rents.  

“That rents continue to rise is due to the impact of a lack of supply and record demand in the private rented sector.  

“This is very much a problem of the government’s own making: reducing the private rented sector as landlords vote with their feet because of swingeing taxation and divisive rhetoric is in no one’s interest.   

Beadle continues: “It’s time for the government to reverse this failed approach by reversing mortgage interest tax changes, abolishing the 3% stamp duty land tax surcharge, investing in social housing and unfreezing local housing allowance for renters.  

“A failure to do so will only ensure the current misery being felt by all in the sector continues.”  

Getground’s poll surveyed 200 landlords in November.