Letting agents should see last week’s Budget as a turning point, not a death blow.

This is according to Sally Lawson, chief executive of agent coaching and growth business Agent Rainmaker.

Chancellor John Healey’s decision to add a further two percentage points to tax on rental income will take rates to 24%, 44% and 49% from April 2027. 

It lands on landlords who are already dealing with the Renters Rights Act and with Making Tax Digital, which extends to landlords with income over £30,000 from next April.

Lawson says: “Landlords have every right to be angry. This is a second tax rise in two Budgets, on top of the biggest overhaul of renting in a generation. But I’d urge agents not to join the doom chorus, because the Budget has just made the strongest case for using a letting agent that I’ve seen in over two decades.

“Think about the self-managing landlord with two or three properties. They now have new tenancy rules to follow, quarterly digital tax returns to file and even thinner margins to protect. One mistake on compliance can cost them far more than an agent’s fee.

“Plenty of those landlords will decide they don’t want to shoulder all of that pressure alone. And others, if they’re not educated otherwise, will decide it’s not worth being in the sector anymore at all.”

She believes the change will speed up a shift already underway in the market – with landlords choosing to stay and weather the storm more likely to understand the value of an agent who understands their portfolio, helps identify new opportunities, protects them against risks, and above all, helps them achieve their long-term vision.

“The agents who go out and find those landlords now, and show them clearly what they take off their plate, will win the instructions,” she adds. “The ones sitting back waiting for things to calm down will watch competitors take them.

“Yes, landlords are leaving the sector, and some of that is inevitable. But a huge number of them are leaving because they’ve been trying to do it all alone. They’ve never had an agent alongside them, so they’ve never seen what a good one is really worth. Every one of those landlords is someone our industry failed to reach. If agents get out there and show landlords what a proper partnership looks like, plenty of them won’t need to sell at all.”

Lawson will be setting out her views at Agent Rainmaker LIVE 2026, on November 12 and 13 at the Marriott Heathrow, London.