Money

IS YOUR BUY TO LET STILL PAYING?

Most yield figures flatter the truth. We help landlords find the real answer and improve it: honest maths on your actual return, and a free session with a lettings expert and a mortgage broker.

Run your numbers, free

Report Landlord Economics in 2026: Why No One Is Getting Rich 28 pages - Phil Shelly, Chair - May 2026 Read the full report

The report

The squeeze no one is talking about.

No single change did the damage, so no single headline covers it. Added together, five quiet changes have pushed the typical landlord's return below a Cash ISA. Most landlords own one property and make under £10,000 a year: small businesses, absorbing a decade of policy.

Read the full report

2% → 5% Mortgages repriced as pandemic-era fixes expire; monthly interest more than doubles

+26% Maintenance costs since 2022; the London average is now £3,197 a year (Towergate)

20.4% Typical London full-management fee, inc VAT, unchanged by periodic tenancies

+£300 A year in new essentials under the Renters' Rights Act, with Section 21 gone

1.9% Rent growth and slowing (Zoopla), while every cost line above it rises

-£1,440

What the average leveraged London landlord loses each year on the agent route.

And of eight typical scenarios in our report, only one beats a Cash ISA on income alone. Landlord Economics, May 2026, by Phil Shelley, Chair; sources include HMRC, Zoopla, Rightmove and Towergate.

Money. Free tool

The Landlord Economics Calculator.

Your real annual return on the capital tied up in your property, after every cost the Landlord Economics Report counts. Same method, your numbers.

Your property.

Property value

Monthly rent

Ownership

Loan to value %

Mortgage rate % interest only

Loan to value is capped at 95% here. Above that there is almost no equity deployed, so a return on equity stops being meaningful.

Who runs it

Your income tax band

Include a realistic void: 21 days between tenants, once every 3 years The report's own sensitivity. Each week empty costs about 2% of annual rent.

Assumptions you can change

Region sets the agent fee and maintenance defaults

Agent fee % of rent, inc VAT

Repairs and maintenance a year

Referencing, inventory, rent insurance a year

Compliance certificates a year

Easy-access Cash ISA rate %, the comparator. As of April 2026

Self-managed letting cost is fixed at £59 every three years with Get Rented, about £20 a year.

Your numbers.

0.0% a year, after tax, on the equity you have tied up in this property

With an agent

Managing it yourself

Rent a year

Mortgage interest

Agent fee

Maintenance, compliance, protection

Tax (Section 24 basis)

Net cash a year

A Cash ISA on the same equity

See the full line-by-line breakdown

The headline is free and stays free. The detail costs one email, and we will send you your numbers to keep.

Read the full report

Illustration aligned to the Hello Neighbour Landlord Economics model (May 2026). Not financial or tax advice; figures are estimates. Unless you tick the void option, the model assumes no empty periods, and it excludes ground rent, service charges, licensing and capital growth throughout, as the report does. Tax is modelled on the Section 24 basis: income tax at your band on profit before mortgage interest, less a 20% credit on mortgage interest, never below zero. A limited-company landlord's position differs. Cash ISA comparator rate shown as of April 2026 and editable above.

30 minutes, one session

The Property Money MOT.

Half an hour, your numbers on the table, two people who look at this all day: a Hello Neighbour lettings expert. You leave knowing exactly where your return is leaking and what to do about each leak.

Your rent against the current market
What your letting and management set-up really costs
Your mortgage: rate, term and whether a broker can beat it
Protection, voids and the risks worth paying to remove

Mortgage discussions are with a regulated mortgage broker partner. Hello Neighbour does not provide mortgage, tax or financial advice.

30 min

One session, two experts.

Video call or phone. Bring your mortgage statement and your latest agent invoice if you have them; rough numbers work too.

More ways to keep more

Paying an agent too much?

Two more free ways to check you are not overpaying to let.

Paying an agent too much?

Fee comparison calculator

See what a high-street agent, an online service and Hello Neighbour cost on your rent, side by side.

Want the market picture?

The Letting Market Report

Rents and tenant demand from our own platform data, published every month.

Quick answers

THE QUESTIONS EVERY LANDLORD IS ASKING.

Is buy to let still worth it in 2026?

It depends on the maths almost nobody does. Industry surveys say most landlords are profitable, but they measure gross yield, before mortgage interest, fees and tax. On a true return-on-equity basis, our report found only one of eight typical scenarios beats an easy-access Cash ISA on income alone. It can still work, but usually because the landlord actively manages the costs. Run your own numbers above.

Why do the yield figures I see everywhere overstate my return?

Gross yield divides rent by property value and ignores everything else: mortgage interest, agent fees, maintenance, compliance, voids and Section 24 tax. Your real question is what lands in your account per pound of equity tied up, which is what the calculator on this page measures.

What is Section 24 and what does it cost me?

Since 2020, individual landlords cannot deduct mortgage interest from rental income for tax. You pay income tax on the profit before interest, then get back a credit worth 20% of the interest. Basic-rate taxpayers roughly break even on the change; higher-rate taxpayers are often taxed on money they never received. The calculator models it at your band.

What did the Renters' Rights Act change for my money?

From May 2026: no letting above the advertised asking rent, assured shorthold tenancies replaced by periodic tenancies, and Section 21 abolished. The direct costs are modest; the bigger effect is that pricing correctly up front and referencing well matter more than ever, because mistakes are slower to unwind.

How do I actually improve my return?

In rough order of impact for most landlords: check your rent against the current market monthly, not yearly; audit what your letting and management actually cost against the alternatives; review the mortgage, since rate is usually the biggest single line; and price the risks properly, because one bad void or arrears spell can erase a year of margin. The free Money MOT walks through all four with your numbers.

IS YOUR BUY TO LET STILL PAYING?

THE PRACTICAL STUFF.

Valuation – How to get it right

Landlord Economics in 2026: Why No One Is Getting Rich

Hello Neighbour Partners with Alan Boswell Group

OpenRent vs Hello Neighbour: How the Self-Letting Market Is Evolving

A Legal Expenses & Rent Guarantee Service – is it worth it?

Self-Letting a Property: Why Letting Your Property Yourself Is Easier, Cheaper and Safer Than Using a Letting Agent

Habito Partnership

The squeeze no one is talking about.

The Landlord Economics Calculator.

Your property.

Your numbers.

The Property Money MOT.

Paying an agent too much?

THE QUESTIONS EVERY LANDLORD IS ASKING.

IS YOUR BUY TO LET STILL PAYING?

Valuation – How to get it right

Landlord Economics in 2026: Why No One Is Getting Rich

Hello Neighbour Partners with Alan Boswell Group

OpenRent vs Hello Neighbour: How the Self-Letting Market Is Evolving

A Legal Expenses & Rent Guarantee Service – is it worth it?

Self-Letting a Property: Why Letting Your Property Yourself Is Easier, Cheaper and Safer Than Using a Letting Agent

Habito Partnership

The Landlord Economics Calculator.

Your property.

Your numbers.

The Property Money MOT.

Paying an agent too much?

THE QUESTIONS EVERY LANDLORD IS ASKING.

MONEY INSIGHTS IN YOUR INBOX.