Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Team from a report by Property118. Read the original article for full details.
Property118 Q3 2026 Survey: Landlord Confidence Falls, Exits Continue
Property118 has published the results of its Q3 2026 Landlord Sentiment Survey, which ran from 1 to 8 October 2026 and was sent to around 40,000 readers. A total of 1,654 landlords took part, with 1,472 completing every page.
This was the third survey of 2026, so sentiment can now be tracked across three quarters rather than two. Property118 notes that the questionnaire was roughly twice as long as before, with 14 new questions.
Three themes stand out
According to Property118, three themes stand out this quarter: confidence is falling; the exit is already happening; and policy, not the market, is driving decisions.
On confidence, more landlords now expect property values to fall behind inflation, and almost three quarters lack confidence in the outlook for the private rented sector. More than half of respondents (54.6%) now expect property values to stagnate or fall below inflation over the next three years, up from 48.7% in Q2. The share expecting values to keep pace with inflation has fallen from 43.3% to 38.2%, and only 7.2% expect real growth (8.0% in Q2). Property118 describes this as the largest like-for-like movement in the survey this quarter.
On exits, intentions to sell or leave remain at two thirds, as they were in the summer. Property118 says the new questions show landlords are acting on those intentions, not just talking about them.
On policy, landlords asked what is pushing them to sell — and what would keep them in the sector — point overwhelmingly to tax, regulation and the balance of rights between landlord and tenant.
Comparability and methodology
Property118 states that it only compares a result across quarters where the question, answer options and time horizon were identical. Comparable across all three quarters are portfolio changes over the last two years, remortgaging plans, factors that would encourage buying, preferred structure for future purchases, ownership structure, management approach and gearing.
Comparable with Q2 only are expectations for property values, intentions over the next three years, factors behind selling, regions where landlords own property, tenant types, property types and tax residency. The 14 new questions cover confidence, recent sales, rents, losses, Making Tax Digital, age, experience and two open questions.
In Q1 and Q2 every question had to be answered; in Q3 every question could be skipped, so the base differs from question to question. The Q1 survey received 2,380 completed responses and Q2 received 2,096. Property118 notes respondents are self-selecting readers, not a random sample of all UK landlords, and that movements of a point or two are within normal survey variation.
Source: Property118