In the first of a two-part article, I have spoken to various landlords around the UK and found out their thoughts on the current market.

The long summer is over and the tenancy provisions of the Renters Right Act are fully in force. Landlords move into a new era, the final date for enforcing a section 21 notice was 31 July and the final cases are winding their way through the courts. I was intrigued to discover that the Property Investor show will again not take place this autumn at London’s ExCel centre, and indeed has now joined forces with A Place In The Sun. “Exhibitors can look forward to larger attendances and visitors will be able to engage with a wider offering from exhibitors,” according to the organisers. It’s an event I have attended for over 15 years and I sense the buzz and throng of excited investors old and new that I witnessed in 2010 is getting harder to draw to these events, so combining forces makes sense. Amid talk of landlords selling to hardy compliance-ready investors looking to expand, I got thinking about the changing of the guard or perhaps a turning point in who wants to invest.

This change is a gradual process of course, but it has come more sharply into focus for me as I embark on my first sale since I started building my business in 2003. Subsidising below market rents, rising mortgage costs and ongoing maintenance costs have taken their toll and I have decided I need to free up some cash. So, I’ve chosen to sell a shared house HMO in Walthamstow where the rent just covers the monthly mortgage payment. I bought it in 2010 and it was my first refurbishment with a builder that I didn’t stick with, so many lessons were learned. Letting go of the place has been a messy mish mash of trying to work out whether to conduct viewings before or after the tenants leave, timing it with the end of a mortgage product to avoid paying early repayment charges and trying to use a section 21 from the old regime to avoid the 12-month letting ban if I failed to get a buyer. There’s also the emotional aspect of just letting go and I feel sad about ending an 8-year relationship with a group of three cyclists who actually used the rear reception room to store their gleaming pristine machines.

There’s nothing like an agent to bring you crashing to earth. Joe from Central Estates wanted to conduct viewings one month before the tenants left because he had 12 people ready to view another property just around the corner on the coming Saturday. I had carefully planned for the property to become empty mid-September, I would tart it up for viewings, allowing three months for conveyancing until the mortgage product ended. I felt the property looked shabby tenanted, but it is a big three bed house with fireplaces and period features in an area with strong demand and I got an offer close to asking price - which I have taken. I’ve learned that showing a property in a pre-marketing period is a very good ploy. Buyers are nervous that if they don’t make an offer, someone else will snap it up when real marketing commences.