A void period is costing many landlords twice as much now, when compared to a year ago. It’s the headline of a new research project by property management specialist, Rushbrook & Rathbone.
The research identified current rental values and compared them to void period durations, working out where the biggest income losses were in the country.
The starting point wasn’t pretty. The average void period is now 24 days, versus an average monthly rent of £1,438. For landlords, that represents an average loss of £1,135 every time a buy-to-let sits empty.
This year has proved to be even harder for landlords than last. A void period cost landlords £1,005 in 2025. In 12 months, the cost of a void has increased 12.9%. The pain point was more pronounced across the country.
Landlords with properties in the West Midlands have been hardest hit, with their void period costs soaring 52.9% in just 12 months.
Landlords in the East Midlands (26.2%), the South West (20.9%) and the East of England (18.7%) have also seen the cost of empty lets increase substantially.
When it comes to how much money is lost, the correlation between rent values and void duration is clear. Despite having a below average void period of 16.6 days, London landlords are paying the most for empty lets - £1,252 every time one of their properties falls vacant.
Landlords in the South East are the second biggest losers, taking an income hit of £1,065, with the South West third (£1,060) and the East of England fourth (£1,059).
With the Renters’ Rights Act making it easier for tenants to leave properties, with just two months’ written notice required at any time, there is intense pressure on landlords to keep good renters and reduce the occupational churn.
This pressure is against a backdrop of easing demand in the rental market. Zoopla’s latest Rental Index found there were an average of 5.6 enquiries per rental home in May 2026, down from a peak of 15.5 in 2022. In tandem are the latest statistics from Propertymark, which showed the number of new homes available for rent per branch increased in its last monitoring period.
With the number of available rentals up and the number of actively-looking renters down, landlords need to be careful of how they nurture relationships with current tenants.
Retaining current renters can be helped by:
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