"The Renters’ Rights Act, EPC reform, expanding local licensing schemes and tighter AML enforcement will all land in 2026, and together they represent a structural shift in how agencies operate"
- Riccardo Iannucci-Dawson - Alto
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from speaking to hundreds of agents this year, it’s that nobody is waiting around for the market to steady itself.
Agents are pragmatic by nature. They’re adapting, solving problems and working out how to make 2026 a stronger year than the last, even with regulatory turbulence and economic uncertainty on the horizon.
What the next 12 months will demand, more than anything, is clarity. Clarity about where to double down, what to stop doing, and which technologies will genuinely move the needle.
Here are the five shifts I believe will define the year ahead — and the opportunities they create for agencies ready to move with the market.
1. AI is moving from buzzword to business-critical
AI isn’t coming… It’s already here. In a recent Alto survey, over a third of agents told us they plan to adopt AI across key workflows in 2026: from listings and marketing to reporting and compliance.
The motivation is obvious: the workload is now too heavy to carry manually.
And while many “ChatGPT-style” features will quickly become commoditised, the real transformation will come from deeper, embedded AI systems that sit inside workflows, learn from live activity, trigger agentic processes, and update continuously in the background. That’s where agents will see real ROI.
AI is already removing friction by writing descriptions, triaging leads and automating certificate tracking.
Next year, it won’t differentiate early adopters, but it will expose late ones. The agents who embed AI into their everyday processes will gain back hours, reduce risk and deliver a faster, more consistent client experience.
2. New ways of working are rewriting the role of the estate agent
Consumer behaviour has shifted permanently. Buyers and tenants expect the same speed, clarity and convenience they get everywhere else in their lives - and that’s fuelling the rise of online booking, self-service, hybrid packages and more flexible service models.
As regulation becomes more complex and data plays a bigger role in decision-making, the traditional agent is evolving into something closer to a trusted consultant: someone who expertly interprets information, navigates risk and guides clients through an increasingly technical process.
2026 won’t reward those defending the old way of doing things. It will reward those who rebuild around how customers now behave - not how the industry used to operate.
3. Regulation will rewrite the operations playbook
The Renters’ Rights Act, EPC reform, expanding local licensing schemes and tighter AML enforcement will all land in 2026, and together they represent a structural shift in how agencies operate.
Nearly 80% of agents rank the Renters’ Rights Act as their biggest challenge for next year, according to Alto data.
For many agencies, the impact won’t show up first as fines - it will show up as operational drag, lost hours and avoidable risk. In a world where the margin for error is shrinking, manual processes and siloed systems simply won’t cope.
The answer lies in smarter systems that automate routine checks, surface risks instantly, create audit-ready records and keep the entire portfolio compliant
without adding headcount. Compliance and profitability are now directly linked, and the agencies that modernise early will feel the benefit fastest.
4. Growth will come from value, not volume
For years, growth meant volume: more instructions, more leads, more deals. But tighter stock, rising costs and heavier compliance requirements mean 2026 will demand a new definition of success.
Smart agencies are shifting their focus to value per instruction, not volume of instructions. That means improving fall-through rates, strengthening managed landlord portfolios, offering premium service tiers, and using technology to increase margin on every deal.
Growth next year won’t come from doing more. It will come from doing better - with clearer processes, better pipelines and a more profitable customer journey end-to-end.
5. Consumer expectations are shifting faster than the industry can react
There’s now a clear gap between what clients expect and what agencies deliver. In a world where most interactions feel instant, too many property journeys still feel slow or opaque.
And consumers act on that frustration immediately. If they don’t get a response, they move on instantly.
In a tighter market, those missed moments matter more than ever. “Speed to lead” will become a frontline metric in 2026, and the winning agencies will be those who communicate faster, operate more transparently and build journeys that feel intuitive rather than effortful.
Modern service standards - not market cycles - will determine who wins instructions.
Looking ahead
2026 won’t be simple, but it doesn’t need to be chaotic. The agencies that will lead the market will be the ones who make smart decisions early: adopting AI, tightening compliance foundations, improving operational efficiency and redesigning the client experience from end to end.
If 2026 has a theme, it’s this: clarity beats complexity, and action beats uncertainty — every time.
CRMs built for this regulatory and operational reality — not the last decade — will quietly become the backbone of the industry’s leaders.
