ONE IN FIVE LANDLORDS TOO EMBARRASSED TO ADMIT IT

One in five landlords are too embarrassed to admit it, according to a recent poll of almost 800 residential property investors*.

The findings show that on average 21 per cent of landlords have been too embarrassed to admit it before. Across the UK, more landlords in the East of England and the East Midlands said they were embarrassed to admit it compared to any other region (29 per cent and 28 per cent respectively).

At the other end of the scale, the English regions with the fewest embarrassed landlords were the South East and Yorkshire and Humber (18 per cent).

Just 13 per cent of landlords in Scotland said they had been too embarrassed to admit it before – the lowest across the UK (see full regional breakdown below).

Richard Blanco, who lets property in London and the East Midlands, says he hasn’t always been truthful when it comes to admitting he’s a landlord:
“Before becoming a landlord I thought long and hard about it because I had always disliked landlords as a student due to a bad experience I had over my deposit.

“These days I’m more upfront about it, but I tell people I work in property instead, because I still assume people won’t like me if tell them what I do.

“I also say that I work for the National Landlords Association (NLA) and that we campaign to improve the private rented sector, which tends to go down a bit better”.

The findings indicate that approximately 400,000 of the UK’s 2 million landlords avoid telling people what they do. The NLA, which is the largest representative body for landlords in the UK, says that despite the bad press, the majority of tenants are satisfied with their current landlord and tenancy.**

Richard Lambert, Chief Executive Officer at the NLA, said:
“The number of people looking to invest in property is rising all the time yet the stigma attached to being a landlord never seems to diminish.

“It’s the minority of rogues and criminal landlords that make the headlines, and this has a negative impact on everyone else.

“The majority of landlords are hardworking individuals who put their own money into providing homes for others, and they should not be ashamed to say so”.
Full regional breakdown

East of England 29
East Midlands 28
London 24
North East 19
North West 23
Scotland 13
South East 18
South West 23
Wales 17
West Midlands 19
Yorkshire and Humber 18
For further information, please contact:
Alex Brent
PR Executive, NLA
020 7820 7904
alex.brent@landlords.org.uk

Christopher Walkey

Founder of Estate Agent Networking. Internationally invited speaker on how to build online target audiences using Social Media. Writes about UK property prices, housing, politics and affordable homes.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Breaking Property News 6/7/26

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   Property portals are sales tools, what buyers need are truth tools   Thought leadership by Oliver Januiax Founder of NestLink   ‘The UK property market has an access not a search problem. For two decades, property portals solved the obvious question of where are the homes? They did it well enough…
Read More
New Builds 2020
Breaking News

New-build stock continues to fall as demand subdued

The latest analysis from Property Inspect has found that demand for new-build homes remained subdued during the second quarter of 2026, with just 16.3% of available new-build properties securing a buyer. At the same time, new-build stock levels continued to decline, accounting for 5.8% of all homes listed on the market across Great Britain. Property Inspect…
Read More
AI in estate agency letting agency property
Estate Agent Talk

5 Practical Examples: This is How AI is Changing Real Estate

There does not appear to be a single industry that is likely to be immune from the impact of AI. Therefore, it is no surprise to learn that seismic changes are happening in the world of real estate, thanks to the increasing influence of artificial intelligence. From using the technology to identify ways to save…
Read More
Crowded beaches - Clacton-on-Sea in Essex
Breaking News

Overheating moves up the housing agenda

441,000 rental homes fail thermal comfort standards The latest analysis from Inventory Base has found that an estimated 441,000 private rented homes in England failed thermal comfort standards in 2024, accounting for 40.3% of all non-decent private rental properties, as major reforms to the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) came into force on…
Read More
Breaking News

Annual house price growth slows in June

The latest Nationwide House Price Index for June 2026 shows that: House prices fell by -0.0% between May 2026 and June 2026. Annual house price growth increased to 2.2% in June 2026, up from 1.7% in May 2026. The average UK house price for June 2026 now stands at £277,484, down slightly from £278,024 in…
Read More
Breaking News

Nationwide House Price Index May 2026

UK annual house price growth picked up to 3.0% in April, from 2.2% in March House prices were up 0.4% month on month Headlines Apr-26 Mar-26 Monthly Index* 554.8 552.7 Monthly Change* 0.4% 0.9% Annual Change 3.0% 2.2% Average Price (not seasonally adjusted) £278,880 £277,186 * Seasonally adjusted figure (note that monthly % changes are…
Read More