The English Private Landlord Survey (EPLS) is a comprehensive national survey that provides insights into the characteristics, experiences, and practices of landlords and letting agents managing privately rented properties in England. Commissioned by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), the EPLS aims to help the government understand how landlords acquire, let, manage, and maintain rental properties.
The survey has been conducted multiple times since 2001, with larger-scale surveys in 2018 and 2021. The private rented sector has grown significantly, with the number of households increasing by 52% from 2008-09 to 2023-24, now representing 19% of all households in England. This sector serves a diverse range of households, including a growing number of families with children.
In recent years, several policy changes have impacted private landlords, including tax reforms, changes to Stamp Duty Land Tax, stricter lending criteria for Buy-to-Let mortgages, and the rise of the Build to Rent sector. The government is also considering further reforms, such as removing ‘no fault’ evictions.
The report is divided into several chapters covering various aspects of the private rented sector. These include an overview of landlords’ characteristics, finances, property portfolios, tenancy management, compliance with legal requirements, and future outlook. The survey data is based on responses from over 9,000 landlords registered with government-backed Tenancy Deposit Protection (TDP) schemes.
While the survey includes data on landlords, it does not fully represent agent-managed tenancies due to challenges in weighting agent responses. Therefore, the findings focus primarily on landlords who directly registered deposits with TDP schemes.
KEY FINDINGS
• Just under half of all landlords owned one rental property, though nearly half of tenancies were owned by landlords with five or more properties.
• Around three in five landlords had some form of borrowing on at least one of their properties.
• Around a quarter of landlords reported they identified damp or mould in at least one of their properties in the last year.
• More than half of landlords requested either a guarantor or rent in advance for their most recent letting.
• Landlords were more likely to increase the rent on new lettings than when renewing or extending a tenancy.
• Tenants were more likely to initiate ending a tenancy than landlords.
• More landlords in 2024 reported planning to decrease the size of their portfolio than in 2018 and 2021.
• Landlords generally reported complying with required legal and health and safety actions for their most recent tenancy.
See the full report here: