How the Renters’ Rights Act Has Strengthened Our Fully Managed HMO Investments Even Further
September 24, 2026
The Renters’ Rights Act has changed the private rental market in England, but for us, the principles behind running a successful HMO have not changed at all. We have always maintained that if you want an HMO property investment to perform well over the long term, it needs to be developed properly, priced properly and managed properly.
That was our position before the Renters’ Rights Act, and it remains our position now.
For over 34 years, Foot Forward Property Investments has developed and managed HMO properties for private investors. Our service is handled from start to finish, beginning with finding the right residential shell, carrying out the refurbishment and conversion, obtaining the necessary licensing and compliance, then moving directly into the day-to-day management of the completed HMO.
The Renters’ Rights Act has simply made that end-to-end approach more relevant.
The Rental Market Has Changed
Since 1 May 2026, most private rented tenancies in England have moved onto assured periodic tenancies rather than fixed-term ASTs. Tenants now rent on a rolling basis and can generally end their tenancy by giving two months’ notice. Section 21 has also been abolished.
For HMO landlords, that means relying on a tenant being tied into a lengthy fixed contract is no longer a sensible retention strategy. A property needs to give somebody a genuine reason to stay.
This is where the standards we have followed for decades become even more important.
We have never believed in squeezing the smallest possible bedrooms into a property simply because they technically meet a minimum requirement. Our HMO bedrooms are designed to exceed minimum room sizes by a considerable margin wherever the building allows it. Every bedroom has its own ensuite, and we place considerable importance on usable communal areas, gardens, parking where possible and the general standard of the property.
Rent matters too. There is little sense spending heavily on an over-designed HMO and then attempting to break the rental ceiling for the area to justify it. We develop good quality, durable homes and price the rooms at levels that remain affordable within their local market.
95% Occupancy Across Our Managed HMOs
Despite the changes brought in under the Renters’ Rights Act, occupancy across our own HMOs and those we manage for investors currently sits at approximately 95%.
We see that as a direct result of the way the properties are developed and managed.
Our in-house lettings team deals with enquiries, viewings, tenant communication, rent collection, inspections, compliance, maintenance and the normal day-to-day work involved with running an HMO. We are not handing completed properties to an unrelated high-street letting agent that also manages flats, single lets, student properties and everything else.
We only manage the HMO investments that we develop.
That means the team responsible for managing the property understands exactly how it was built, who it was designed for and the standard we expect it to be kept at.
Tenants Have More Freedom to Move
One of the more interesting effects we have seen since the tenancy reforms came into force is increased movement between properties.
With assured periodic tenancies now operating on a rolling basis, tenants have greater flexibility to leave accommodation that no longer suits them.
We are seeing demand from tenants who have been living in HMOs with very small bedrooms, shared bathrooms, no meaningful outdoor space, limited parking or rents that are difficult to justify against the quality of the accommodation.
When somebody has greater freedom to move, quality starts to matter more.
A tenant comparing a cramped room with a shared bathroom against a larger ensuite bedroom in a well-managed property at a sensible rent has a much easier decision to make than they perhaps did when fixed contracts were more common.
For landlords relying on poor-quality accommodation and tenant inertia, that creates pressure. For professionally developed HMOs, it can create opportunity.
Minimum Standards Were Never Our Target
HMO legislation provides minimum standards, but building exactly to a minimum has never been how we have approached development.
There is a difference between asking, “What is the smallest bedroom we are legally allowed to create?” and asking, “Would somebody actually be happy living in this room?”
The second question is far more useful.
Our properties are designed around professional tenants who are looking for somewhere they can genuinely treat as a home. Bedrooms need enough usable space. Ensuites remove the frustration of shared bathrooms. Kitchens and communal rooms need to work when several adults are using them. Gardens need to be usable rather than treated as wasted development space, and parking is considered seriously when we purchase the original property.
We also refuse to chase unrealistic rents simply because somebody has spent too much money on the refurbishment.
Affordable rents and good accommodation make a far better combination for long-term occupancy than boutique interiors accompanied by a rent that sits well above everything else in the area.
Management Matters More Under the Renters’ Rights Act
The Renters’ Rights Act has also introduced a different compliance environment for landlords and letting agents. Alongside the move to periodic tenancies and the removal of Section 21, landlords now have new requirements around tenancy information and other parts of the letting process, with enforcement available where the rules are breached.
For somebody attempting to manage an HMO alongside a full-time career, other businesses or family commitments, the workload was already substantial. Regulation has not made it lighter.
This is one of the reasons our HMO investment model has always included management.
Our investors are not expected to learn licensing legislation, organise contractors, deal with tenant calls, monitor compliance dates, conduct inspections, chase arrears or work out how the latest tenancy legislation affects their property.
Our team handles it.
The investor owns the HMO. We develop and manage it.
We Were Doing It Properly Before the Act
There has been a great deal of discussion within property circles about how landlords should adapt to the Renters’ Rights Act.
Our answer is relatively simple.
Develop properties people actually want to live in. Do not cram buildings with the maximum possible number of undersized rooms. Keep rents realistic. Maintain the property properly. Deal with repairs quickly. Stay on top of licensing and compliance. Inspect properties regularly and have an experienced management team available when tenants need them.
None of this arrived with the Renters’ Rights Act.
It is how we have operated for more than 34 years.
We source the residential shell ourselves, assess whether it works as an HMO before an investor buys it, complete the development through our own team and then retain responsibility for managing it afterwards. That gives us accountability across the entire process rather than separating the development from what happens once tenants move in.
Better HMOs Have More Reason to Perform
The Renters’ Rights Act does not remove demand for good shared accommodation. If anything, greater tenant flexibility places more pressure on landlords to provide accommodation worth staying in.
Our current occupancy figures give us a clear indication of what tenants want. Across our managed portfolio, occupancy remains at around 95%, while we continue to see tenants approaching us from other HMOs because they want larger rooms, ensuite facilities, gardens, parking and sensible rents.
We have spent more than three decades building around those fundamentals.
For investors, our model remains the same one we followed before the legislation changed: fully managed 5 and 6-bedroom professional HMOs, developed from the original residential shell and managed by our own team once complete.
The legislation has changed. Our standards have not.
To view our current fully managed HMO property investments, visit: