The cities that will feel most pressure from RRA
The latest insight from Inventory Base reveals which pockets of England’s housing market are set to be most impacted by the Renters’ Rights Act, based on the proportion of local dwellings that sit within the Private Rented Sector (PRS). In one particular city centre, PRS accounts for 77% of all homes.
The Renters’ Rights Act reforms landlord practices and strengthens tenant protections in the Private Rented Sector, most notably through the abolition of Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions. It also introduces the structure to bring in stricter safety and quality expectations, including the application of Awaab’s Law and the Decent Homes Standard to private rentals in the future. While these measures move the PRS closer to the regulatory model seen in social housing, they do not fully align the two in practice or enforcement.
To understand where this impact will be most acute, Inventory Base analysed housing stock at postcode district level, ranking areas by the proportion of privately rented homes.
The data shows Sheffield city centre (S1) has the highest concentration of PRS homes in England, accounting for an estimated 77% of all dwellings. Social housing makes up a further 11%.
London’s EC3 follows at 73%, with Leeds city centre postcodes LS1 and LS2 at 71% and 68% respectively.
This is followed by Manchester’s M1 (68%) and M2 (68%), B2 in Birmingham (65%), L2 in Liverpool (65%), EC4 in London (64%), and NG1 in Nottingham (64%).
In total, 39 postcode districts across England have PRS concentrations of 50% or more, marking them as the areas where the effects of reform will be most immediate and most visible. In these markets, the scale of rental stock means compliance changes won’t phase in gradually but hit at volume from day one.
Sián Hemming-Metcalfe, Operations Director at Inventory Base, commented:
“High-density rental markets aren’t going to experience this reform gradually, they’ll absorb it all at once.
When over half the housing stock sits in the PRS, every regulatory change scales instantly. More properties to inspect, more compliance points to evidence, and more opportunities for disputes if standards aren’t met.
The removal of Section 21 shifts the balance of risk, but the real pressure sits in execution. Meeting tighter safety expectations, maintaining consistent property standards, and evidencing that work properly (at volume) is where most operators will feel the strain.
This is where operational cracks tend to show. Manual processes, inconsistent reporting, and poor audit trails don’t hold up under this level of scrutiny.
The agents who will cope are the ones who treat this as a systems problem early; tightening workflows, standardising reporting, and making compliance visible and repeatable. In high-density rental markets, preparation isn’t just a competitive advantage, it’s what will determine whether you stay compliant at all.”
In practice, this means agents operating in high-PRS areas won’t have the luxury of gradual adjustment. The volume of properties, inspections, and compliance requirements will scale immediately, exposing any gaps in process, reporting, or record-keeping. For many, the challenge won’t be understanding the legislation but keeping up with it.
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