Half of private renters who made a complaint were unhappy with the outcome before the Renters’ Rights Act took effect, according to the latest English Housing Survey analysis highlighted by Propertymark.
English Housing Survey shows weak redress before RRA
Propertymark said the 2024-25 English Housing Survey offers a useful baseline for judging whether the new regime improves life in the private rented sector. While 66 percent of renters said they were content and most said they felt secure, the survey also showed a clear gap once problems had to be challenged.
Half of renters who complained were unhappy with the result, and 94 percent of those dissatisfied did not take the issue any further. The most common reasons were lack of confidence in the process and concern about upsetting the landlord or agent.
For landlords, that matters for two reasons. First, it shows how much mistrust still sits inside the complaints system even before the new rules bed in. Second, it points to where enforcement and redress pressure may grow if tenants become more willing to escalate issues under the post-RRA regime.
Propertymark also highlighted other weak points in the survey. Renters receiving housing support and households containing someone with a long-term illness or disability were more likely to report dissatisfaction. Renters in converted or shared homes reported the highest dissatisfaction rate at 40 percent.
Landlord Knowledge has already reported that most private renters who moved did so by choice before the new law and that tenant understanding of the Renters’ Rights Act remains patchy. The complaints data adds another layer: even where tenants do raise issues, many do not believe the system will help them.
Landlords should expect more scrutiny of complaints handling
Propertymark argued that the main test for the Renters’ Rights Act will be whether it improves standards, enforcement and redress while keeping the sector workable for landlords and agents. That is a fair warning for the market.
This follows Landlord Knowledge’s May report on tenant confusion around the new rules, which found awareness was still uneven despite the scale of the legislative change. The latest survey evidence suggests confusion is only part of the problem. Confidence in getting a fair result when things go wrong also looks weak.
That could leave landlords facing a more formalised complaints environment over the next 12 months. Better record keeping, clearer responses and faster action on repair and tenancy issues may matter just as much as strict legal compliance.
The survey does not paint the whole market as broken. Most renters said they felt at home and safe from eviction. But the numbers suggest the sector still had a credibility problem in dispute handling before the new regime began.
Propertymark’s summary of the findings is available here, alongside its call for balanced implementation of the new law.
What this means for landlords
- If you handle complaints informally: tighten your paper trail now, because complaints processes are likely to face more scrutiny under the RRA era.
- Watch for: higher use of redress and local authority routes if tenants lose patience with unresolved issues.
- Bottom line: the survey suggests that trust in complaint handling was weak before reform, and landlords will need to work harder to show fairness after it.
Editor’s view
The headline satisfaction figures look reassuring, but the complaints numbers are more revealing. A sector where most unhappy renters do not bother pushing further is not a sector with strong trust – it is one where many people assume the effort will go nowhere.
Author: Editorial Team – UK landlord & buy-to-let news, policy, and finance
Published: 18 May 2026
Sources: English Housing Survey 2024-25, Propertymark analysis
Related reading: Most private renters left by choice before RRA
📘 Renters’ Rights Act: Complete Landlord Guide
Everything you need to know about the new rules – 1 May 2026
