5 ways BTL brokers can protect their landlords’ income in 2026
The buy-to-let landscape has changed. By 2026, landlords are no longer passive investors but business owners operating under higher tax, tighter margins and more regulation than ever.
Yet much of the advice they receive remains focused purely on mortgage products. That gap is becoming increasingly risky.
Landlords now need advisers who understand not just how they borrow, but how their property businesses are structured and protected. Mortgage advice alone is no longer enough.
For BTL brokers, protecting landlord income is closely linked to protecting your own pipeline. When income is disrupted, landlords pause borrowing, sell assets or exit the market altogether.
Here are five ways brokers can help landlords protect income in 2026 without stepping outside their role.
1. Guide landlords on tax efficiency and ownership structure in a changing market
In today’s environment, the way a landlord owns property is just as important as the rate they secure.
Brokers and financial advisers are often the first advisers to spot when a landlord’s current structure no longer makes sense. This might include:
- A growing personal portfolio that is becoming inefficient under income tax
- A landlord expanding into a limited company or SPV for the first time
- A portfolio split across personal ownership, companies, partnerships or family arrangements
Each scenario creates different tax, lending and protection considerations.
For example, landlords operating through limited companies may be able to retain profits at corporation tax rates, reinvest more quickly and plan income extraction more strategically. Others may need to consider whether partners or family members are financially dependent on the business, or whether asset value, rather than monthly income, represents their real exposure.
A broker who understands these pressures can help landlords think more strategically about how their business is structured, rather than simply refinancing within an outdated model.
2. Align protection with how the property business is owned, not just how income is taken
An increasing number of landlords now operate through limited companies and SPVs, yet their financial protection often hasn’t evolved alongside their ownership structure.
Research from Paragon Bank shows how widespread this shift has become. Nearly one in three landlords hold their properties exclusively within limited companies, with a further 36% splitting ownership between corporate entities and personal names. Overall, two-thirds of landlords have created at least one company for their buy-to-let investments.
While incorporation can bring tax advantages, such as lower corporation tax and the ability to retain and reinvest profits, it also changes where risk sits.
For many landlords, especially those with larger portfolios, the key exposure isn’t a short-term loss of rental income. Rent may still be received even if the landlord can’t work.
The greater risk is often tied to:
- Asset value rather than monthly income
- Business partners or co-directors
- Family members who depend on portfolio income
- What happens to the portfolio if a key individual is no longer involved
In these cases, personal protection arranged before incorporation can quickly become misaligned with the business.
For landlords operating through companies, protection can often be structured more efficiently through the business itself.
Relevant life policies written into trust, for example, can provide tax-efficient cover for directors while also sitting outside the estate for inheritance tax purposes. For larger portfolios, growing asset values can also create unintended IHT exposure if planning hasn’t kept pace.
Brokers aren’t expected to provide specialist tax or estate advice, but recognising when these issues exist and prompting early conversations helps ensure protection reflects how the property business is actually run.
3. Look beyond income and address asset value, trusts and IHT exposure
For many established landlords, the real risk isn’t short-term income loss, it’s long-term asset exposure.
Large portfolios often represent significant estate value, particularly where properties are held in limited companies, partnerships or across family structures. Without planning, this can create future inheritance tax issues or leave family members exposed to difficult decisions at the wrong time.
This is where concepts such as trusts, relevant life cover and longer-term estate planning become relevant. While brokers aren’t expected to give specialist advice themselves, recognising when these issues exist and encouraging early conversations can make a big difference.
The earlier these risks are identified, the more options landlords have.
4. Reduce the risk of forced decisions during disruption
When margins are tight, financial shocks carry bigger consequences.
Even if rental income continues, illness, injury or disruption can stall refinancing, delay growth plans or force landlords into reactive decisions. This risk is amplified where portfolios are jointly owned or where one individual plays a central role in managing the business.
Without proper planning, landlords may be pushed into selling assets at the wrong time, undoing years of careful portfolio building and permanently reducing future income.
Brokers who help landlords think ahead reduce the likelihood of rushed decisions and help protect long-term portfolio value.
5. Strengthen landlord relationships in a shrinking, more professional market
The buy-to-let market is becoming smaller and more professional. The landlords who stay in the market expect advisers to understand pressure points beyond interest rates.
Brokers who demonstrate awareness of tax, structure and income risk position themselves as long-term partners rather than transactional intermediaries. That strengthens retention and keeps brokers front-of-mind as portfolios evolve.
In a market where every relationship matters, this depth of understanding is a competitive advantage.
To summarise
In 2026 and beyond, landlords who treat property as a business will be the ones who last. Mortgage advice alone no longer reflects the true reality they face.
Brokers who recognise this shift, and support landlords with broader, more strategic guidance, will remain essential as the market continues to change.
