How to Ignore Property Doom Porn and Actually Succeed in Property
Open your phone and it looks like the end of the world for UK landlords: “2026 – the year small landlords finally lose their nerve.” “Renters’ Rights Act will dismantle the PRS.” Between social clips, sensational posts and dramatic thumbnails, it’s easy to feel like you’re mad to even think about growing a portfolio.
But if you look beyond the drama, a different picture starts to emerge.
Rental demand remains strong, supply is still tight in many areas, and yields in several regions are holding up or improving. Yes, the Renters’ Rights Act is ending Section 21, making all tenancies periodic and beefing up penalties for non‑compliance. That absolutely makes life harder for sloppy, casual landlords. It does not mean that nobody can run a profitable, well‑run portfolio.
In my latest Property Mindset podcast episode, I call this wave of content “property doom porn” – headlines and hot takes designed to trigger fear and paralysis rather than help you make better decisions. Instead of asking, “Is property dead?”, I encourage you to ask much better questions:
- What actually changes for my strategy under the new rules?
- In my specific target areas, what do the current rents, yields and voids really look like?
- How can I tighten my systems so higher standards and inspections aren’t a threat?
When you zoom in like that, you usually find two things:
- Some deals and areas no longer make sense – and that’s useful information.
- Other, better‑structured opportunities still stack up when you run the numbers properly and stress‑test at higher rates.
The investors who will do well in 2026 are not the ones who consume the most negative content. They’re the ones who build their own ecosystem: solid data, good advisers, proven local contacts and repeatable systems for sourcing, analysing and managing deals.
If you’ve caught yourself doom‑scrolling instead of deal‑analysing, this episode is for you. I walk through how to filter the noise, where to focus your attention instead, and practical mindset shifts that help you keep moving even when the headlines are shouting “game over”. If you’d like to feel calmer, clearer and more confident in your own decisions, you can listen to the full conversation on the Property Mindset podcast.
New Podcast Episode: How to Ignore Property Doom Porn and Actually Succeed in Property
