The smaller landlord squeeze.

Research from specialist lender Pepper Money estimates that around 220,000 households will exit the private rented sector by the end of 2026, roughly 5% of the PRS. More than 65,000 of those exits are directly attributed to the Renters’ Rights Act, which came into force on 1 May. The headline grabs the eye. The detail beneath the headline matters more.

The exits aren’t evenly distributed. Landlords with a single property are twice as likely to leave the sector as those with larger portfolios. The South East alone is projected to lose more than 46,000 homes from the rental stock. What’s happening on the ground is a structural shift: the small, often accidental landlord is being squeezed out, and the professional, portfolio-led landlord is taking their place. The market isn’t shrinking. It’s consolidating.

In buy-to-let finance, this consolidation shifts which borrowers lenders support. The borrower a BTL lender prefers in 2026 is not the same as in 2021. The best terms go to portfolio landlords with well-structured, professionally managed rental income. Meanwhile, single-property landlords with stretched DSCRs and no portfolio diversification face stricter underwriting and lower LTVs, with lenders willing to fund only some deals.

That’s why work on a BTL refinance or a portfolio expansion deal now matters more than it did three years ago. Lender mandates are shifting under the surface, and the broker’s job is to recognise which lender is moving towards your borrower’s profile and which is moving away. Across buy-to-let, bridging and development finance, and the wider specialist book, the deals we structure are matched to that moving target — not to where the market was a year ago. Get in touch if your portfolio plan is being repriced.