Barclays and Lloyds took different routes
Lender guidance on buy-to-let tenancies was uneven in late July, just under three months after periodic tenancies became standard in England, while Lendlord data shows 79% of the 5,235 landlords in its platform sample run rolling tenancies only.
In a survey by the firm, around 90% of UK landlords said their latest tenancy agreement had not been reviewed by a solicitor.
Lender wording after May 1
Barclays, Saffron Building Society and Nationwide had published guidance confirming a periodic tenancy satisfies their mortgage conditions by late July, while Lloyds Bank's customer-facing buy-to-let guidance still opened with language built around the assured shorthold tenancy. Several major lenders had yet to update their buy-to-let documentation after the Act took effect.
Santander's consent-to-let conditions for tenancies in England with annual rent of £100,000 or less require a written agreement with no fixed term.
They also require monthly rent, deposit protection and compliance with the Renters' Rights Act and private rented sector database entries.
Skipton Building Society's consent-to-let requirements say the tenancy agreement must create an assured periodic tenancy in England and should be in writing.
Tom Steer, head of underwriting, said in content supplied by LendInvest and published through Legal & General Mortgage Club that lenders are having to rethink void period assumptions because tenants can leave more freely.
A Landlord Today survey in February found 84% of landlords knew fixed-term tenancies were being replaced, while 69% had no plans to change their processes before May.
What Lendlord's data shows
Lendlord published two sets of findings, one drawn from platform records of landlords with a current tenant and the other from a survey of UK landlords. The release did not state the survey's sample size or fieldwork dates.
In the platform sample, 84.7% of landlords with a current tenant run at least one rolling tenancy, made up of 79% running rolling tenancies only and 5.7% running both rolling and fixed. Only 14.5% run a fixed-only book.
At tenancy level, 86.1% of the 15,622 tenancies are recorded as rolling and 12.3% as fixed-term. Among live tenancies grouped by start month, the fixed-term share fell from 31.3% for October 2025 starts to 0.9% for August 2026 starts.
Survey on agreements
In the survey, around nine in ten landlords said a solicitor had not reviewed their most recent agreement, and around 45% obtained it directly from a letting or managing agent. Around a quarter said a solicitor's review would make them trust the legal wording, the most common answer.
Aviram Shahar, co-founder and chief executive of Lendlord, said landlords had adapted to the change, with 79% of the sample using rolling agreements exclusively.
He said a rolling structure is only one part of staying compliant, and that landlords also need clear agreements and an understanding of their ongoing obligations.
Shahar said the survey showed a gap between the agreements landlords use and the reassurance they want, with a solicitor review the most cited route to confidence in the wording.
"It points to a wider need for clarity and confidence for landlords and tenants alike," he said.
Legal requirements
The Renters' Rights Act moved assured tenancies in England onto a periodic system from 1 May 2026. Landlords must still make sure the written terms and information they provide are clear and meet the relevant requirements.
Landlords with existing tenancies that had written terms had to give tenants a government information sheet by May 31, according to the NRLA. Fines can be up to £7,000 for a single breach, and up to £40,000 for repeated offences or breaches unresolved after 28 days.
Landlord confidence
Research from Aviva, based on a survey of more than 500 UK landlords and property-sector decision-makers between May 21 and June 1, found 95% were confident they understood the new rules and 96% were concerned about non-compliance. Some 94% said they had already changed how they run their property business.
A private rented sector database is due to roll out regionally from autumn 2026, requiring landlords to register themselves, their properties and compliance information. A mandatory landlord ombudsman scheme follows in 2028.
UK Finance data show 58,272 new buy-to-let loans worth £10.8 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up 3.26% by number and 7.02% by value on a year earlier. Remortgages rose 11.1% to 39,160, while house purchase loans fell 14.9% to 16,871.
Shahar said landlords managing tenancies through Lendlord have the rolling structure applied by default, with Compliance Hub notifications to support ongoing compliance. The firm's periodic tenancy agreement, with all 17 clauses reviewed by a solicitor, is free to generate.
