August survey: compliance burden is the top reason landlords use letting agents

Created Nov 10, 2026 • AI-generated summary

Research by landlord property management firm August (reported 10 November 2026) on landlord sentiment around Making Tax Digital reporting requirements: compliance and legal complexity is the main reason landlords engage letting agents (27%), ahead of wanting more control (22%), poor service (20%) and fees (14%). Two-thirds of landlords changed property management arrangements in the past two years (26% started using an agent, 25% left one, 12% switched). 75% expect each quarterly MTD update to take at least four hours; legislation is the biggest 12-month concern (26%); 58% of those paying for management pay 11% of rent or more. Despite the burden, 69% are likely to self-manage all properties within two years, including 58% of current agent users. Membership limited to coverage of this specific August MTD/compliance survey release.