Winning landlords when there are no renewals left to sell

Written for portfolio landlords, letting and managing agents, HMO operators and short-let operators in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The short version

1. Sell the risk you remove, in pounds.Compliance, lawful arrears handling and evidenced section 13 rent reviews. Show what each costs a landlord to get wrong, not a discount.
2. Check every advert before it goes live.In England: asking rent, the EPC rating if there is one, any tenant fee in the headline price, and material information like known defects.
3. Drop wording that excludes families or benefit claimants.In England, never "professionals only", "no DSS" or "no children", and never invite or accept offers above the asking rent.

Renewal fees used to give agencies a reason to talk to every landlord once a year. In England that event has gone. What landlords now pay for is having risk taken off them, and the adverts you write for them are both your shop window and your legal exposure.

What landlords now buy

• Compliance management: certificates, licensing, preparing for registration on the new landlord database (proposed, not yet live), and the deposit and written-information duties.
• Arrears handling with a lawful possession route.
• Rent reviews by section 13, backed by evidence.

Lead with the risk you remove, in pounds, rather than a fee discount. For example, a landlord who serves a notice to sell (Ground 1A) and then sees the sale fail cannot let or market the home from the day the notice is served until 12 months after the earliest date proceedings could start. Sophie served on 3 August 2026 with an earliest proceedings date of 3 December 2026. If the tenant leaves then, Sophie's £1,400 pcm flat cannot be let again until the restricted period ends on 2 December 2027: 12 months' rent, £16,800, at risk. Letting or marketing it inside that window risks a penalty of up to £40,000. An unlicensed let risks a rent repayment order of up to 2 years' rent. As of Oct 2026.

Portals bring tenants. Landlords come from local search, reviews, referrals from accountants and mortgage brokers, and rent rolls you buy. Track cost per instruction and churn by source from your own data.

Every advert has to pass consumer law (England)

Each lettings advert must show the asking rent and the EPC rating where an EPC exists, and must carry no wording that discourages families or people on benefits. Never invite or accept offers above the asking rent: a bidding war between applicants is one of the breaches that carry penalties up to £7,000 for the agent. As of Oct 2026.

The legal test is misleading omission. For a let, National Trading Standards' best-practice guidance, which applies until the government publishes its own, covers the rent and deposit, council tax band, tenure and any lease restrictions such as pets or subletting, EPC, broadband and mobile coverage, parking, flood risk, known defects, accessibility, and any HMO or selective licence. As of Oct 2026.

• Rent pcm and pw where the portal allows.
• "Available now" only if it is, and "bills included" names the bills.
• Never "professionals only", "no DSS" or "no children".
• Your full fees list with VAT, and your redress and client money protection statements, appear in each office, on your website and on portal listings.
• Referral fees you receive from contractors, referencing or insurance providers are disclosed to the landlord before they decide.

In Scotland, adverts carry the landlord registration number. As of Oct 2026.

Discounts eat the income renewals used to cover, and an unlawful advert exposes the agency itself, not only the landlord.

Asked in Greymill

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More for property management and rentals in the UK

• Our renewal commission has gone: how do we replace it?Since 1 May 2026 English tenancies have no fixed term to renew, so renewal-based fees may stop and the gap has to be priced openly to landlords.Read the lesson
• My fixed rate ends next year: will the rent still cover the mortgage?A buy-to-let refinance can double the interest bill and has to pass the lender's rent cover test, so plan it months ahead inside a 13-week cash view.Read the lesson
• Section 24 is eating my rental profit: should the properties go into a company?Individual landlords get only a basic-rate credit for mortgage interest, but moving a portfolio into a company can cost more up front than it saves in decades.Read the lesson
• Is every property legal to let? Certificates, alarms, Right to Rent and HMO licencesCostly lettings mistakes are often a missed certificate, check or licence, so run one compliance tracker per property and clear the move-in items first.Read the lesson
• Our tenancy and management agreements were written for fixed termsSince 1 May 2026 several clauses English agreements still carry have no effect and some break the Tenant Fees Act, so check the paperwork before you sign or rely on it.Read the lesson
• Paying negotiators on commission without falling below the minimum wageLow basic pay plus commission can fail the minimum wage in a quiet month, and renewal-based commission has to be retired properly now renewals have gone.Read the lesson
• A tenant has stopped paying: what to do first, nation by nationArrears cases are lost on a missed step, so check the deposit and certificates, log the arrears, and use the right ground for the nation the property is in.Read the lesson

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