One in four landlords report not being able to keep up with changing regulations, shows a survey from Direct Line.

The insurer asked polled 222 landlords and found that, of those one in four, 36% said its difficult to keep up with the pace of change in regulation, 27% said they “wouldn’t know where to start” with understanding regulation, and 20% said they don’t have the time to keep up with it, tied with the same proportion who said they can’t afford the necessary legal advice to do so.

And when quizzed on awareness, 16% of landlords were not aware of licensing scheme changes, 15% not aware of healthy and safety regulations, and 13% were not aware of sustainability standards.

It is likely that from 2025, all newly rented properties will require an energy performance certificate rating of at least ‘C’, with this deadline extended to 2028 for existing tenancies.

Shawbrook recently found that a significant number of landlords are unaware of this.

The Direct Line research also found that 58% of landlords say that keeping up-to-date with regulatory change is “stressful” and that of these landlords, 33% are considering selling their property, 26% have taken time off work due to this, and 22% suffer sleepless nights.

Of those who do keep up-to-date, the main way of doing so is through landlords carrying out their own research – 33% – with 31% paying a letting agent to keep them in the loop.

Direct Line landlord business manager Jamie Chaplin says: “Landlords are faced with a range of challenging regulatory changes and issues and our research suggests this is causing them a range of problems.

“In some cases, this is causing stress and anxiety, which is leading many to consider selling their properties.”