A competitive market, significant inbound regulations an expanding regulatory burden, and changing tenant behaviour is reshaping what drives growth for today’s professional landlords.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Josh is Account Director at 7DOTS with over a decade’s experience delivering strategic digital projects. Widely respected for his work across sectors, he has deep expertise in property and real-estate clients, including Pegasus Homes, Bidwells & Fine Grain Property. Josh is passionate about shaping compelling, user-centric experiences that help property brands navigate market change
Mounting Pressure in a Changing Market
The rental market is evolving rapidly and significantly, evidenced by widespread media scrutiny and national news exposure from media outlets across the country. As a result, professional landlords are facing pressure from a trio of factors.
Firstly, the market is softening. Rental demand is at its lowest level in 6 years, leading to less competition and choice for tenants in the market. The rental cycle and along with it, tenant behaviour, is less predictable now than it has been in previous years.
Secondly, the proposed Renters’ Rights Bill is set to increase regulatory requirements. Building safety legislation and new management standards are raising the bar for what a “good” rental prospect looks like. Landlords are going to need to adjust to tenants having more flexibility to leave with notice.
Thirdly, expectations are rising significantly. Between the planned extension of the Decent Homes Standard into the private rented sector, alongside the increased supply and tenant flexibility, tenants expect value for money. They enjoy technological improvements across their day-to-day and see no reason why these shouldn’t extend to how they find a home. Today’s tenant expects clear information, instant updates, greener homes, and a digital self-serve landscape.
Despite these known challenges, landlords who optimise the tenant experience have an opportunity to reap the benefits.
Where Value is Being Lost
Occupancy, yield, compliance, and maintenance are the pillars upon which most portfolios are built - and with longstanding success. However, landlords are now absorbing commercial losses behind the curtain and between the gaps of consumer expectation and experience.
1. Slow processes damage confidence
Tenant experience is paramount, and slow processes not only eat into your team’s valuable time but also leave tenants feeling unhappy. What might have been acceptable in a less saturated market no longer works, and it’s up to landlords to streamline processes, prioritising simplicity and speed.
2. Marketing with a low conversion rate
You can list as many properties as you like, but if the journey from portal, to website, to enquiry is dated or disjointed, prospective tenants will move on, and fast. Seamless user experience is an expectation of modern living, and cumbersome technology will only trim poor conversion rates further through user attrition and funnel drop-off.
3. Convenience dates older properties
Factors such as broadband speed, EPC ratings, energy costs, and community experiences can mean older homes no longer fit the bill for the modern tenant. While finish and floorplan used to be the be-all-and-end-all, tenants of 2026 and beyond are putting a lens on lifestyle, living costs, and sustainability.
4. Rising standards make the average feel sub-par
With so many build-to-rent operators resetting expectations by adopting digital tools to enhance clarity and community, even the “good” properties now feel less competitive. This doesn’t mean you need to chase the latest tech, but you do need to remove barriers, reducing friction and maximising convenience.
What Does This Mean for Growth?
There is a known disconnect between what tenants expect and well-trodden, yet often dated, landlord processes; and where this gap grows, growth will stall.
Consequences of a poor prospective tenant experience include:
- Missed early-stage visibility due to a weak Search presence and suboptimal listings
- Stagnating viewing requests where key information is missing or hard to access
- Lost interest when responses are slow or generic
- Sluggish engagement without timely follow-ups and clear next steps
Poor digital experience impacts existing tenants too:
- Renewal intent drops if onboarding feels messy
- Teams get overloaded due to the lack of self-service tools, busy with reporting issues or locating documents
- Communication feels sporadic and impersonal, which undermines trust
- Warning signs of churn are missed due to lack of behavioural insight, reducing long-term loyalty
What About Internal Changes?
Another shift professional landlords can’t afford to overlook is the changing demographic of those entering the market. The next generation of landlords is arriving earlier and coming at the industry from a digital-first mindset.
There are now more than 3,000 buy-to-let landlords in the UK under the age of 21, and around 63,000 aged 21-30. This younger demographic has grown up with intuitive apps and seamless online experiences, and they are building their portfolios with these in mind from day one.
As these digital natives begin to scale, they will continue to raise expectations across the market. Adopting new platforms, automating processes, and delivering slicker tenant journeys will further widen the divide between landlords who evolve and those who continue relying on older ways of working.
What’s Next for The Evolving Landlord?
There is no need to see these changes as a harbinger of doom. In fact, the changing market presents enormous opportunities for landlords willing to adapt. The space you are competing in is saturated, but that doesn’t mean you can’t stand out.
It's imperative to have a strong digital strategy across Search networks and vendor sites, maintaining high marketing impressions and click volume for your portfolio. Post-click, building and promoting a positive experience that caters to the wants of today’s tenants will increase user retention.
Behind the scenes, joined-up data and visibility across the entire digital journey is key and can help mend poorly performing funnels whilst AI add-ons can introduce efficiency without compromising service quality.
Essentially, the real differentiator is experience. With rental supply increasing and regulations tightening, digital is no longer just a back-office add-on, it’s the new system behind occupancy, renewals, and long-term stability.
How Professional Landlords Regain Control
A Three-Part Digital Growth Framework
At 7DOTS, we use a three-pillar model supported by our Waymaking process: Define, Deliver, Drive.
Pillar 1: Digital Marketing for Visibility & High-Intent Enquiries
- Multi-channel acquisition across search, social, portals and local awareness
- High-intent content that answers real tenant questions and sets expectations clearly
- Better photography, virtual tours and messaging that reflect the lived experience
- AI-supported enquiry routing and qualification
- Predictive targeting that reduces wasted spend and improves enquiry quality
Outcome: More right-fit tenants discovering you earlier, at a lower cost and with stronger intent.
Pillar 2: Digital Experience to Engage & Convert Prospects
- Websites designed around clarity: availability, location, amenities, EPC, community, broadband
- Frictionless pathways from listing → enquiry → viewing → application
- Transparent communication that builds confidence
- Personalised journeys that reflect property type, household size and preferences
- AI-powered tools to answer tenant queries and guide them through choices
Outcome: Higher conversion from enquiry → viewing → application → move-in.
Pillar 3: Digital Experience to Retain & Enhance Tenant Value
- Tenant portals and app-based self-serve that reduce operational friction
- Maintenance journeys with real-time updates to improve satisfaction
- Proactive communication driven by behaviour, not guesswork
- Predictive indicators for renewal risk, satisfaction and upgrade potential
- Experience-led retention strategies that build long-term loyalty
Outcome: Higher retention, deeper lifetime value, stronger reputation and reduced operational strain.
The 7DOTS Advantage: Proof in Action
The Modern House – UK-based estate agency that curates and sells architect-designed and design-led homes
A +70% uplift in organic visibility and traffic, achieved through a re-engineered information architecture that reduced site depth and aligned core content with real buyer intent.
Pegasus Homes – UK developer specialising in high-quality, design-led later-living communities
+68% increase in qualified traffic and an +18% rise in engagement rate, driven by stronger digital trust signals, richer content discoverability, and a scalable, data-led infrastructure that enhances visibility and conversion across the customer journey.
Fairview – UK developer creating energy-efficient new-build homes across London and the Home Counties, with a focus on regenerating sites for first-time buyers and families.
+1482% increase in users and a 45% uplift in form interactions - helped Fairview demonstrate how a modern, insight-driven digital experience can significantly accelerate buyer interest and conversion in the built-environment sector.
What’s Next?
The rental market is shifting. Supply is rising, regulation is tightening, and tenant expectations are accelerating. This environment exposes operational inefficiencies and experience weaknesses, but it also creates opportunity.
Professional landlords who modernise their digital marketing, unify their tenant experience and harness data and AI will build stronger portfolios, more predictable occupancy, and a brand tenants trust. Those who wait will struggle against competitors who feel more responsive, more transparent, and more connected to tenant needs.
If you want to strengthen retention, streamline operations, and attract high-quality tenants more efficiently, now is the moment to act.
