Why getting it right matters more in 2026

Under the Renters' Rights Act, which came into force on 1 May 2026, the cost of getting it wrong has risen sharply. With Section 21 gone and tenancies now periodic (Assured Periodic Tenancies, or APTs), a problem tenancy is unwound through the slower, more expensive Section 8 court route. A wrong tenant no longer means a few awkward months. It can mean a drawn-out possession claim and a tribunal.

The economics leave little room for error. As our Landlord Economics in 2026 analysis showed, returns on most average properties already sit between 2% and 5% return on equity, and often below, when an easy-access Cash ISA pays 4.31%. Against margins that thin, a long void or a stretch of unpaid rent can take many months to recoup, and a non-paying tenant can wipe out a year's profit. The good news is that finding the right tenant is a repeatable professional process, not luck.

At Hello Neighbour we've refined that process across more than 10,000 viewings, over 3,000 lettings a year, and 7,000+ offers handled on our platform. Here's how it works, stage by stage, with the costs.

Doing it yourself is much easier than it has ever been: it takes 15 minutes from registration to listing your property on the Hello Neighbour platform. If you don't want the hassle, we use the same process when we manage properties for landlords, so you can always ask us to do it. See our DIY Tenant Find tools or our managed Get Rented Pro service.

Step 1: Maximise demand, the right advert on the right portals

You can't pick the right tenant from a small or poorly matched pool. The first job is to put your property in front of as many genuinely suitable renters as possible, especially in the first week, when a listing gets most of its attention.

Rental demand has cooled. Rightmove's average is now around 8 viewing requests per property, down from 25 in 2023, so exposure matters more than it has for years.

Why Rightmove is the priority

List on the major portals (Rightmove, Zoopla, OnTheMarket) and treat Rightmove as the priority. It accounts for the large majority of UK portal traffic: at least 80% of London portal visits, versus 15% for Zoopla and 5% for OnTheMarket. Our Get Listed package puts you on the portals for £29, includes Rightmove as standard, and for the rest of 2026 features every listing on Rightmove for the all-important first seven days. Being "Featured on Rightmove" really makes a difference: our own experience shows an 80% increase in daily detailed views per property and a 325% increase in email leads per property.

Read more: Why Rightmove is an essential part of advertising your rental property

Photography, floor plans and video do the qualifying work

Then give the listing the best possible chance to qualify viewers before they ever book. Professional photography, an accurate floor plan and a short video walkthrough don't just attract more demand, they attract the right demand. More than half of negative viewing feedback is about size and layout, which is exactly what good photos and a floor plan let people judge for themselves. Our professional photography and floor plan, produced by our partner Pink Plan to RICS standards, costs £79, with a photographer on site within two days and images back by 9am the next morning. Video walkthroughs are available too.

Read more: Why Professional Photos, Videos & Floor Plans Are a Game-Changer

The payoff is measurable: properties we list attract an average of 49 viewing requests versus the Rightmove average of 8, and we reach an accepted offer in an average of six days.

Step 2: Screen viewing requests, without putting good tenants off

More demand only helps if you don't waste time on viewings that were never going to work. The skill is screening enough to filter out clearly unsuitable enquiries, without a long interrogation that deters the very tenants you want. We know that asking a long list of questions up front dramatically reduces genuine demand. A phased, neighbourly approach keeps suitable applicants engaged.

The questions that do the most work

Drawn from analysis of thousands of landlord-tenant messages on our platform, the screening questions cluster around a few areas:

  • Employment and income (asked by 96% of landlords). The anchor question. A common affordability test is annual income of at least 30x the monthly rent.
  • Who will live there (84%): household size and relationships, paired with affordability.
  • Move-in timing (81%): preferred date and flexibility.
  • Pets and smoking (75%), guarantor (72%) and references (20%).

Stay the right side of the law

The Renters' Rights Act strengthens rules against discrimination, including a ban on refusing tenants because they receive benefits or have children. Questions about benefit income in particular are now legally sensitive. Screen on affordability and suitability, applied consistently to everyone, and never on protected characteristics. This is general guidance, not legal advice.

Read more: Hello Neighbour's guide to screening viewing requests

Step 3: Run viewings that count

A well-run viewing is where the right tenant decides this is home. Preparation does most of the work: a clean property (kitchens, bathrooms, floors and windows are what people notice), honest answers ready on the things tenants raise most (size, storage, noise and parking), and a few genuine local highlights such as schools, parks and transport.

Block viewings versus single viewings

We've tested both. For the properties we manage we use blocks of up to eight viewings in a two-hour window, in 15-minute slots. Blocks create urgency, immediate comparability, and let you reach an agreed offer faster. This is far more efficient for the landlord and gets the best results.

Accessing a tenanted property for viewings

If the current tenant is still in situ, viewings are usually fine, but access isn't automatic. Follow the tenancy agreement, which will typically require at least 24 hours' written notice with visits at a reasonable time. If you start from "this is someone's home", not "this is my asset", you will do well. Offer two or three time windows to the incumbent tenant, keep blocks short, avoid breakfast, bedtimes and the school run, and confirm everything in writing.

Done well, the results show up in the feedback. For the viewings Hello Neighbour manages the no-show rate is just 4.1%, and almost 70% of applicants tell us "I want it" or "I love it", with offers following. A hosted viewing through Hello Neighbour costs £45 per visit if you'd rather not do them yourself.

Read more: Hello Neighbour's guide to viewings

Step 4: Negotiate to an agreed offer, the new rules

The bidding ban and rent setting

Once the right tenant makes an offer, the Renters' Rights Act changes how you close the deal. From 1 May 2026, rental bidding is banned: you must advertise a specific rent (no ranges), and you cannot invite, encourage or accept an offer above it. The agreed rent must match the advertised figure or be lower. Accepting more than the advertised amount risks a civil penalty of up to £7,000, even after the tenancy is signed, with a further penalty for any repeat within five years.

First-tier Tribunal challenges

Tenants can also challenge the rent at the First-tier Tribunal in the first six months. Section 7 of the Act lowers the bar to simply whether the rent is above "open market". The safest approach is to set an honest, evidenced rent from day one. Resist the temptation to over-ask: a void of just 11 days wipes out a full year's rent increase of 3% on a £2,000/month property.

What you can still negotiate

With the rent itself now largely fixed, negotiation shifts to the practical terms: the move-in date, the rent due date (the first rent period must be no longer than one month), and pets. Tenants now have a right to request a pet, which you must answer in writing within 28 days and can't unreasonably refuse. Beyond that, the most common points we see negotiated are everyday details: garden upkeep, cleaning responsibilities, appliance instructions, contractor access, smoking, gutter clearing and bike storage.

Record everything

Keep a clear record of everything. Because a breach now carries a real fine, every offer, counter-offer and agreed term should be documented. Negotiating on our platform captures it all automatically and feeds the agreed terms straight into the tenancy agreement, so there's no ambiguity later. That keeps both landlord and tenant safe.

Read more: Offer Negotiation in the New Rental Landscape

Step 5: Reference thoroughly, cover every base

Once you have agreed an offer, modern technically supported referencing is essential. Done right, you confirm the tenant is who they say they are and can pay. It matters more than ever now that removing a tenant is slower and costlier. We believe it is no longer optional, and 92% of UK landlords agree. Fraudulent applications jumped 140% between 2022 and 2023 and have continued to increase.

A reference is only as good as the detail it covers. Ours, at £24 per tenant, includes:

  • Identity verification using a certified ID provider.
  • Right to Rent share-code checks via the Home Office online system, where required in England.
  • Credit checks powered by Experian, including adverse history such as County Court Judgments.
  • Affordability assessed through Open Banking, payslips and employment contracts. Not a self-declared figure.
  • Previous-landlord and employer references, which often surface issues before they become your problem.
  • KYC, AML and fraud checks, including sanctions and watchlist screening, plus document analysis that inspects metadata, fonts and edit history to catch forgeries.

Read more: Tenant referencing: why it really matters and how we handle it

Putting it all together

Finding the right tenant isn't one decision, it's five steps that compound: maximise the right demand, screen fairly, view well, negotiate cleanly to an agreed offer, and reference thoroughly. Each step costs a little and getting the tenant wrong costs a lot.

Add it up and a complete, well-referenced let costs a small fraction of one month's rent, and a tiny fraction of the months it can take to recover from a void, unpaid rent or a contested possession claim.

Whether you do it yourself with our DIY tools or let us handle it end to end with Get Rented Pro or full Property Management, the principles are the same. If you'd like to talk it through, the Hello Neighbour team is here to help. Get in touch.

Belt and braces: Rent and Legal Protection

The final decision to make is whether you want Rent and Legal Protection. We use it for all our managed properties, but it is a personal choice.

Read more: A Legal Expenses & Rent Guarantee Service: is it worth it?

Disclaimer

The information in this blog is provided for general guidance only and reflects our understanding at the time of publication. While we make every effort to ensure the content is accurate and up to date, it should not be relied upon as legal, financial, mortgage, or property advice. Every individual's circumstances are different, and we recommend seeking professional advice before making any decisions based on the information provided. Hello Neighbour accepts no liability for any loss or inconvenience arising from reliance on the content of this blog. External links are provided for convenience only, and we are not responsible for the content or availability of third-party websites.