What is going on with Property investing right now?

Where Are We Now?

Let’s start with the obvious:

Most landlords already know the pressure they’re under.

They can feel the squeeze. They can see the shift.

And many of them, whether they admit it or not, know something bigger is happening

underneath the surface.

Because the truth is this:

We are not just dealing with higher rates, more regulation, or tighter margins.

We are dealing with a complete change in the direction of travel.

For the first time in decades, the environment is no longer built for landlords. It’s built for

stability, institutional investors, controlled supply, and a rental sector that the government can

predict, manage, and tax properly. That is the world we’re moving into.

Landlords didn’t just lose favour

the entire system has shifted around them.

And most people are still clinging to the old playbook while the ground is changing beneath

their feet.

The Pressure Isn’t Just Pain, It’s a Signal

Look at what’s happening right now:

 Mortgage rates have dramatically increased.

 Stress testing has been tightened.

 Section 24 is finally hitting full force.

 Licensing, EPC changes, and compliance costs are all rising.

 Public sentiment is turning hostile.

 Headlines paint landlords as the problem, not the providers.

 95% mortgages are opening the door for first-time buyers again.

 A shrinking rental stock is forcing rents up while landlords exit.

 Renter Rights Bill

 Potentially more taxation

This isn’t random.

This isn’t accidental.

This isn’t a one-year blip.

It’s structural.

It’s deliberate.

It’s the new market.

And if you want to understand where we’re heading, you need to understand what all this

pressure actually means.

This report isn’t here to talk about doom and gloom.

It’s here to give clarity, and clarity starts with honesty.

The Traditional BTL Model Doesn’t Work Like It Used To

For nearly 20 years, the game was simple:

Buy, Rent, Refinance, Repeat and Retire early

All on cheap money and favourable tax treatment.

That model made sense back then. It rewarded scale, leverage, and risk-taking. It built

portfolios. It created wealth. But the industry stayed with that formula long after the

environment stopped supporting it.

And now?

 The tax advantages have gone.

 Leverage is dangerous, not efficient.

 Remortgaging cycles don’t work at 6–7% stress tests.

 Yields don’t stack unless you go into high-aggravation strategies.

Which is why investors are now chasing:

 HMOs

 Social housing leases

 Serviced accommodation

 Supported living

 AirBnB

 Emergency housing schemes

Not because they want these strategies

But because the old model stopped working.

And here’s the reality:

When investors chase the same “solutions,” it’s no longer a strategy; it’s a stampede.

And stampedes rarely end well.

The industry calls these “strategies,” but most aren’t strategies at all. They’re reactions.

They’re people trying to preserve yesterday’s margins in today’s environment.

That’s not how you win in a changing market.

The Rise of Institutions and Why That Matters

This is one of the most important signals in the entire market:

The government doesn’t want 1.5 million leveraged landlords.

It wants institutional control.

You can see it clearly:

 Build-to-Rent funds expanding rapidly

 Institutions buying entire blocks

 Private equity entering the rental market

 Regulations written for large operators, not small ones

 Professionalisation happening across the sector

This doesn’t mean small landlords disappear.

It means the wild west is ending.

The free-for-all that allowed untrained amateurs to scale portfolios on cheap debt is gone.

The new market is structured. Managed.

And built around predictability.

Institutions love predictability.

Small landlords generally don’t.

Why This Feels Like “Anti-Landlord” (Even Though It

Isn’t)

What landlords are experiencing today can feel personal, like a targeted attack.

It isn’t.

It’s the system correcting an imbalance.

For years, BTL was:

 over-rewarded

 under-regulated

 too easy

 too profitable

 and too attractive compared to other asset classes

Government intervention wasn’t “anti-landlord.”

It was inevitable.

And Chapter 2 will explain exactly why.

But for now, it’s enough to understand this:

We are standing at the turning point between two eras

the landlord-led market of the past,

and the institution-supported housing system of the future.

How you move through this transition depends entirely on whether you’re seeing it clearly…

or still hoping the old days come back.

So Where Are We Really?

Here’s the honest summary:

 The old BTL model is broken.

 High-leverage investors are exposed.

 Regulation will keep tightening.

 Institutions are taking the low-risk, predictable parts of the market.

 Landlords are being pushed toward the fringes, HMOs, SA, and supported housing,

the high-aggravation space.

 First-time buyers are being encouraged back into the market.

 The direction of travel is not pro-landlord, and it won’t be for a long time.

But, and this is important:

There is still opportunity.

There is still money to be made.

There is still a clear path forward for those who adapt.

You just can’t rely on yesterday’s game.