The Daily Dam. June 2, 2026

Afternoon you absolute legends. Barry here. While you lot have been busy living your lives, I’ve been gnawing through today’s property headlines so you don’t have to. The Renters’ Rights Act is officially tearing through the market like a chainsaw through softwood; landlords are throwing their toys out the pram, and rents are higher than the water level at my dam.

Let’s dive in.

🍼 Mummy, Daddy, Can You Co-Sign? The Guarantor Crisis

The Gist: Because landlords can no longer demand a massive chunk of upfront rent under the new Renters’ Rights Act, they’re panicking and asking for guarantors instead.

Barry’s Bite: The average rent is now £1,438 a month. To pass the sniff test, a tenant needs to earn over £43k a year, but the average peasant… sorry, renter… only makes £41.8k. That means nearly 1 in 5 tenants (and maybe up to half soon) will have to crawl back to their parents begging for a financial lifeline. If you don’t have a wealthy boomer to co-sign your life, good luck getting the keys.

👟 Mike Ashley Swaps Tracksuits for Tenancies

The Gist: The Sports Direct billionaire just scooped up a 4.2% stake in the UK’s largest listed residential landlord.

Barry’s Bite: Because one monopoly isn’t enough. I fully expect all new tenancy agreements to come bundled with a giant novelty mug, a three-pack of Slazenger socks, and a heavy discount on Lonsdale trainers.

📉 Landlords Fleeing the RRA Are Tanking House Prices

The Gist: Savills is predicting UK house prices will fall by 2% by the end of 2026.

Barry’s Bite: Why? A lovely cocktail of high interest rates, global chaos, and buy-to-let landlords dumping their portfolios because they’re terrified of the Renters’ Rights Act. The market is suddenly flooded with ex-rentals. Turns out, when landlords collectively soil themselves and sell up, the whole market takes a hit. Savills reckons things will bounce back by 2030, but it’s going to be a sweaty summer.

💸 Supply Dries Up, Rents Go Up (Again)

The Gist: HomeLet’s Rental Index shows average UK rents hit a spicy £1,340 in May, up 1.1% in just a month.

Barry’s Bite: See the story above? Landlords selling up means fewer homes on the rental market. Less supply + desperate tenants = landlords charging whatever the hell they want for a damp box. The Act has kicked in, and tenants are paying a premium just to have a roof over their heads.

👁️ Big Brother is Watching Your Buy-to-Let

The Gist: The Government is rolling out a massive “data collection strategy” to spy on the private rented sector and figure out if the Renters’ Rights Act actually worked.

Barry’s Bite: The Ministry wants to track everything—surveys, tribunal data, and the shiny new PRS Database. They promise evaluation reports in 2028 and 2031. That’s right, it’s going to take them five years to figure out if they’ve accidentally destroyed the rental market. I frankly couldn’t give a dam, but agents and landlords better get used to the paperwork.

Catch you tomorrow for more market madness. Keep your teeth sharp & your lives simple by signing up to Rentr today. 🦫✌️