RICS recorded a +23 percent tenant-demand balance in September, its third consecutive monthly acceleration, while landlord instructions remained in negative territory and surveyors still expected rents to rise over the next three months.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ latest Residential Market Survey also shows rental-growth expectations slipping to a +37 percent balance from +44 percent in August. That is still well above the +27 percent average in the first half of 2026, but it is a newly softer reading after the summer rise.
Landlords reviewing a re-let, an acquisition or a rent change now face two signals at once: tenant demand is strengthening in the RICS survey, yet the near-term rent outlook has cooled slightly. The figures support careful local pricing rather than a blanket assumption that every tenancy can absorb another increase.
RICS demand balance accelerates again
RICS asks participating surveyors whether demand, instructions and rents are rising or falling. Its net balance is the share reporting an increase minus the share reporting a fall, so +23 percent does not mean tenant demand rose by 23 percent. The September lettings figures are non-seasonally adjusted and the report does not give a national percentage change in achieved rents.
This follows Landlord Knowledge’s August report on RICS rent expectations and landlord supply, when the tenant-demand balance was +18 percent and the landlord-instructions reading was -14 percent. The new return points to firmer demand again, but RICS does not publish a precise September balance for landlord instructions in its summary, only that the flow remains firmly negative.
The tight-supply theme also appears in Landlord Knowledge’s latest SpareRoom coverage, although its record £769 advertised-room figure covers a different part of the market. RICS is a sentiment survey of chartered surveyors across sales and lettings, so neither release should be treated as a rent instruction for a particular town or property type.
Rent expectations ease but stay above the 2026 average
A +37 percent balance of RICS contributors expects rents to increase over the next three months. The measure fell seven points from August, yet remains ten points higher than its January-to-June average. That distinction is useful for landlords: demand may still support a well-priced home, while affordability can limit the increase tenants will accept in a specific postcode.
The September RICS survey was based on 193 responses covering 422 branches. Its headline national readings cover England and Wales and are regionally weighted; Scotland and Northern Ireland data are collected separately. The results describe what surveyors report seeing, not a complete count of private tenancies or advertised homes.
Softer sales outlook adds a local pricing warning
The wider sales market weakened during the month as interest-rate expectations rose. New buyer enquiries moved to -22 percent from -18 percent, agreed sales to -18 percent from -16 percent, and the house-price balance to -32 percent from -28 percent. RICS said its 12-month outlook for sales and prices was broadly flat.
That backdrop can affect rental decisions where tenants are weighing a move, a purchase or a cheaper competing home. A landlord with a void should compare live local listings, bills, condition and move-in timing before relying on national demand figures. The survey is strongest as a warning about direction, not a substitute for comparable evidence.
What this means for landlords
- If you are setting a new rent: use current local comparables and affordability checks, not the +23 percent demand balance as a pricing formula.
- If a property is empty: check competing listings and the total monthly cost to a tenant before holding out for a higher figure.
- Watch for: the next RICS survey to see whether the fall from +44 percent to +37 percent in rent expectations continues.
- Bottom line: demand remains supportive, but the first softer rent-expectations reading since the summer makes realistic pricing more important.
Editor’s view
The pressure on rental supply has not disappeared, but the latest RICS return is not a green light for automatic rent rises. The more useful message is that a landlord can have demand and still lose a good tenant by ignoring what the local market will bear.
Author: Editorial Team – UK landlord & buy-to-let news, policy, and finance
Published: 8 October 2026
Sources: RICS UK Residential Market Survey, September 2026
Related reading: RICS: rent expectations rise to 3% as landlord supply falls
