The new landlord rulebook: what's now in force, and what lands next

As at 7 September 2026.

The last decade of buy-to-let has been a steady accumulation of rule changes, and landlords have got used to absorbing them one at a time. 2026 is different only in density: three significant changes sit close together, and two of them are now in force.

1. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, live since 6 April 2026

If your gross rental income is over £50,000 a year, you must now keep digital records and report income and expenses to HMRC quarterly through compatible software, a requirement that has applied since 6 April 2026.

The thresholds then step down:

Note that this is gross income, not profit. A landlord with three properties at £1,500 a month is already over the first threshold, regardless of what the mortgage costs.

Penalties are points-based: four late updates within two years triggers a £200 penalty. Not ruinous, but the administrative rhythm is the real change, four submissions a year instead of one annual scramble.

Financing angle: quarterly digital records are, incidentally, very good for mortgage applications. Portfolio landlords are routinely asked for up-to-date income and expenditure across the whole portfolio, and the lenders who ask for the most detail are often the ones with the best criteria. If MTD forces you into cleaner books, that's a lending advantage rather than just a compliance cost.

2. The Renters' Rights Act, in force since 1 May 2026

This is the substantial one. Since 1 May 2026 the private rented sector in England has changed shape:

• Section 21 "no-fault" evictions are abolished. Possession requires a valid statutory ground.
• All tenancies become periodic, rolling month to month or week to week. Fixed terms go.
• Rent increases limited to once a year, via a defined process.
• Maximum one month's rent can be taken upfront.
• Blanket bans on tenants with children or on benefits are unlawful.
• Pet requests cannot be unreasonably refused.

Enforcement has teeth. Minor non-compliance carries penalties up to £7,000; serious or repeated breaches up to £40,000, or criminal prosecution.

A separate letting agent qualification regime and Code of Practice are in development, with dates not yet confirmed.

Financing angle: the end of fixed terms changes how some lenders assess a tenancy, and a small number of lender products were built around assured shorthold tenancy structures that no longer exist in the same form. Criteria updates have been landing through the year, and more will follow. If you're arranging a five-year fix on a rental property now, it's worth checking how your lender treats periodic tenancies rather than assuming.

3. The EPC C target, by 2030

Privately rented properties will need an EPC rating of C or above by 2030, up from the current minimum of E. In the second half of 2027 a new metrics system arrives, requiring properties to meet two of three standards covering fabric performance, heating systems and smart readiness.

2030 sounds distant. It isn't, if the work is structural. Solid-wall insulation, heating replacement and window upgrades on an older property are five-figure jobs with long lead times, and the tradespeople who do them will be in short supply as the deadline approaches.

Financing angle: this is a refinancing question, not just a maintenance one. Raising capital against existing equity to fund upgrades is usually cheaper than funding them from cash flow, and a number of lenders now offer green product ranges with better rates for properties already at C or above, so the work can partly pay for itself through the rate. Doing it in 2027 at your own pace beats doing it in 2029 alongside everyone else.

The structural shift underneath all of this

The cumulative effect of Section 24, stamp duty surcharges and now this wave of regulation is that the casual, one-property, personal-name landlord is slowly leaving the market, and the professional landlord is taking their place.

The numbers show it. Lendlord's Q3 2026 report found that companies now own 45.1% of rental properties, with individuals holding 54.9%. The split tracks portfolio size closely:

Paragon Bank research found 63% of landlords expect to make future purchases through an SPV limited company.

Should you incorporate? Not automatically

Limited company buy-to-let is the right structure for a lot of landlords and the wrong one for plenty of others. The honest version of the trade-off:

In favour. Mortgage interest is a deductible business expense rather than being restricted to a 20% tax credit, which is the whole reason the shift happened. Corporation tax on retained profit is generally lower than higher-rate income tax. Interest coverage ratio stress tests are often kinder: several lenders publish a 125% ICR for limited company applications against tougher tests for personal-name higher-rate taxpayers, which can mean a materially larger loan from the same rent.

Against. Limited company mortgage rates are higher. Lendlord's Q3 2026 data showed roughly 4.76% average for private landlords against 6.44% for company landlords. There are accountancy costs, director's guarantees, and extracting money from the company is itself a taxable event. And moving existing personally-held property into a company is a sale: stamp duty and potentially capital gains tax, payable now, against tax savings spread over years.

Which way it falls depends on your marginal tax rate, how long you'll hold, whether you need the income now or can leave it in the company, and how big the portfolio is going to get. It's an accountant-and-broker conversation, and doing it in the wrong order, incorporating first and financing second, is how landlords end up stuck with an unmortgageable structure.