Welcome to the Money blog. Our weekend feature: from dreams to disasters, three twenty-something landlords reveal how they got on the property ladder ahead of their peers. Listen to Money reporter Jess Sharp on why energy and food bills are ticking up as you scroll.
Saturday 30 August 2025 08:11, UK
By Brad Young, Money feature writer
It’s little surprise that the average landlord is aged 59.
Many people under 30 are struggling to put down one deposit, let alone two.
But 64,000 landlords haven’t yet hit their 31st birthday, according to accountants UHY Hacker Young. 
Some 3,000 aren’t even 21.
We’ve spoken to three Gen Z investors trying to play their hand in a middle-aged investor’s game.
Live-at-home landlords
Dylan Renshaw, 26, from Derbyshire, is building his property empire from a room in his parents’ house.
He put down his first deposit, worth £27,500, on a two-bed property in Nottinghamshire at the age of 20, having saved since he was 16.
At the time of purchase, he was earning £30,000 as an assistant contract manager for a construction firm, while paying £250 in rent to his mum and dad.
“I’m not going to hide that,” says Renshaw, who comes from a family of landlords.
“I was living with family. There are a lot of people that struggle to save because they’re renting.”
Renshaw says he started working as an apprentice at 16, saving in premium bonds and a Help-to-Buy ISA, a government scheme offering up to £3,000 to people saving for their first home.
The bonus cannot be spent on buy-to-let mortgages, but a residential property can be rented out after a change in circumstances, which Renshaw says applied to him when his job was relocated six months after he bought the property.
Renshaw has since put down another £27,000 deposit on a three-bed in Derbyshire, making his monthly mortgage payments £950 across both homes, while charging his tenants £1,590 in total.
“It’s quite daunting and it’s quite worrying to have that fiscal responsibility and if it goes wrong, you need to have a contingency in place,” he says.
Asked how he owned multiple properties while some of his friends are still saving for their first, he says: “People have had different circumstances, different upbringings, different priorities.”
He points to friends who moved out of their parents’ home to rent with partners, or acquaintances who have struggled to get a mortgage due to outstanding car finance
“I don’t feel I’ve made any major sacrifices. I just feel I put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into sourcing the right properties, making the right budgets.”
Renshaw’s “ultimate goal” is to earn enough to spend most of his time at a family home in Cyprus.
“It’s a lot more relaxed and there’s a lot less stress,” he says.
“There’s a lot less tax.”
Too much red tape?
For Liam West, from Evesham, taking on his first tenant at the age of 20 was a daunting prospect.
“Absolutely. I’m a big worrier,” says West, now 26, who rents out a one-bed flat in the Worcestershire town valued at £130,000.
“It was a whole learning curve as well, and you constantly have the doubt of: is this right? Am I ready to do this? Is it financially going to work? It was a big risk.”
West’s great aunt died when he was 14, leaving him and his mother half of the flat each, which she turned into a rental.
Six years later, West, who lives in the family home rent-free, took out an £80,000 buy-to-let mortgage to buy out his mum’s stake in the property.
“Because of my age, I feel like there was a lot more red tape we had to go through,” says West, a joiner by trade.
The process took six weeks and his mum had to act as guarantor for his first two-year mortgage term.
West charges his tenant £700 a month while his mortgage payments are £440, having rocketed up from £160 in 2023 due to interest rate hikes.
“It’s not the most profitable business in the world,” he says, explaining he pockets around £50 a month on average, which is saved for emergencies.
“Don’t go and spend it like it’s free because you will need that money eventually,” he warns, such as if the tenant leaves or the boiler breaks.
His friends “don’t know the stress involved, they don’t know the responsibility” – but would he rent to any of them?
“No, no, no, no, no, no, no,” he says. “Absolutely – friends, family – no. Wouldn’t entertain it. I guarantee something would happen in terms of money.”
Has it all been worth it? Financially, no, he says, but it has given him an opportunity for personal growth: “I can do something now that not a lot of people my age know the first thing about, which I’m quite proud of.”
He hopes to expand his property portfolio and combine it with his skills as a tradesman by renovating and renting out homes.
“That would be a dream,” he says. “I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t.”
A ‘horrendous’ experience
West’s dream stands in stark contrast to the nightmare scenario described by Morgan Dagnall, 26, from Northwich.
Neighbours living beside his three-bed rental property in the market town have complained of police visits, the smell of cannabis, excessive noise and people living in the property who aren’t tenants.
His mortgage, meanwhile, has skyrocketed from £821 to £1,375 a month since January, meaning he and his girlfriend have lost “thousands” of pounds.
“I have had such a bad experience – why would I ever do this again?” he says.
“I cannot go through the stress and the management of it. It’s been such a toll, especially on my fiancee’s mental health. For her, it has been horrendous.”
The couple got together aged 17 and saved £2,000 in their teenage years. After university, they lived with their parents for 14 months while paying very little rent and depositing 70-80% of every paycheck into a house fund, including two Help-to-Buy ISAs.
The pair were earning a combined salary of approximately £47,000 and saved £23,000 for the deposit.
They lived in the property until July 2023 before relocating to Salisbury for work and renting it out for £1,390 a month, including bills.
“We were originally going to rent out and get another property and build a portfolio, but based on our experience so far, I don’t think we’ll be doing that,” says Dagnell.
He says the tenants have refused to communicate for several months, the blinds are always shut and he’s been told people were moving large electrical equipment, water systems and suitcases in and out of the property.
Dagnell and his fiancee moved back in with his parents in January, intending to kick the tenants out and sell the property because it no longer feels like their home.
But this means they can’t fix on a mortgage so they’re stuck on the bank’s buy-to-let standard variable interest rate of 7.24%.
“It all sounds like sunshine and rainbows when people say get into property, build a property portfolio, but there are far too many complications, things you need to know, and how much time and stress you need to go through,” he says.
If wholesale energy prices are falling, why were we told this week that the price cap would rise in October? 
There are a few factors behind it – read business and economics correspondent Paul Kelso’s full analysis…
Following the announcement, people were urged to take some time this weekend or as soon as possible to consider fixing their energy deal.
From 1 October, the average dual fuel household’s annual bill will rise by £35 to £1,755. This applies to around 20 million people in England, Scotland and Wales on standard variable or default tariffs.
There are currently fixed deals offering savings of around £265 a year versus the October cap. Here are the top five deals by provider…
These kinds of charts appear each Friday in our weekly Money newsletter – showing subscribers the best deals on offer for bank switching, mortgages, broadband, savings and energy. If you’re not among the 50,000 people who’ve already subscribed, you can do so here…
Weekend tips
You have until Sunday to bag yourself theatre tickets for as little as £15 each.
London Theatre Week runs until 31 August, offering discounted tickets for more than 50 shows, including The Lion King, Hamilton and Wicked.
While you need to book your tickets by Sunday, you don’t have to see the show by then.
You can get tickets for £15, £25 and £35.
Meanwhile, Cineworld is selling all tickets for £4 on Saturday and Sunday as part of its Big Screen Weekend promotion. 
It’s available across all its cinemas, and covers films being shown on premium screens such as IMAX, 4DX and ScreenX – as well as recliner seats. 
Top reads from the Money blog this week…
Every Saturday, we publish our weekend long read – a feature, deep dive or interview that we know will get you talking. 
This week, Money feature writer Brad Young speaks to three twenty-somethings about their dreams and disasters as Gen Z landlords.
Check it out tomorrow and have a great weekend.
Child benefit automatically stops after your child turns 16 – but if they are still in education, you can extend it.
HMRC has urged parents to remember to file their extension before this year’s deadline on Sunday. 
If you forget, you could miss out on at least £1,354 a year. 
Here’s what you need to know… 
Who can extend their child benefit?
To be eligible for an extension, your child must be between the ages of 16 and 19 and in school, college or another recognised training course. 
They must be completing one of the following: 
You will not be able to get an extension if they are: 
How much is child benefit worth? 
Child benefit is worth £26.05 a week – or £1,354.60 a year – for the eldest or only child. 
It is worth £17.25 a week – or £897 a year – for an extra child.
It is automatically paid into your bank account every four weeks. 
How to get child benefit
If you are eligible, HMRC should have sent you a letter reminding you to extend your benefit. 
On the letter, there will be a QR code you can scan with your phone that will take you to a webpage on the government website. 
You will be taken to this page, which has a “start now” button to begin the process.
You will need to enter your government gateway ID and password, or set up an account. 
Alternatively, you can see the HMRC app. 
Anything else to be aware of? 
If you earn more than £60,000, you should be aware of the high income child benefit charge. 
This is a tax charge that must be paid to HMRC if you earn above the threshold.
If you earn more than £80,000, the charge will be equal to the full amount of your child benefit, so you are no better off for receiving it. 
You can check whether you are over the limit here, and you can get an estimate for how much you will have to pay using the government’s calculator. 
Aldi employees are getting their second pay rise of the year as the supermarket sticks to its promise to never be beaten on pay. 
From Monday, staff will be paid £13.02 an hour, with that rate rising to £13.95 with length of service. 
In London, hourly rates will rise to £14.35 and £14.66 with length of service. 
It seems to be a tit-for-tat move after Aldi’s budget supermarket rival Lidl announced it was increasing wages to £13 an hour nationally, and £14.35 for staff working in London, earlier this month.
In July, Aldi said it was increasing pay for store assistants from £12.75 an hour to £13 from 1 September to become the first supermarket to offer this minimum rate.
It had already upped wages in March to £12.75 and £14.05 for staff within the M25. 
Aldi said it was also the only retailer to offer all colleagues paid breaks, which is “worth around £1,425 a year”.
Giles Hurley, CEO of Aldi UK and Ireland, said: “Our colleagues are at the heart of our success, and we’re committed to ensuring they are fully rewarded for the outstanding work they do. This higher than planned pay rise is part of our promise to never be beaten on pay.” 
Parents of children under the age of five in England can now apply for 30 hours of free childcare a week in an expansion of the government scheme.
This final phase of the programme, which was unveiled in 2023, will allow working parents to claim the benefit from September. 
Here’s what you need to know… 
Who is eligible for the scheme?
At present, working parents are eligible for 15 free hours of childcare for children between nine months and two years and 30 hours for three to four-year-olds.
From next week, this is extended to 30 hours for all those age groups.
Parents working at least 16 hours a week may be eligible and their children must be at least nine months old on or before 31 August (this Sunday).
Places are funded from the term after your child turns nine months old until they start reception at the age of two. 
What if you’re not eligible? 
If you are not eligible for 30 hours of funded childcare, your child may be eligible for 15 hours.
All parents of children aged three to four in England can access 15 hours of free early education – it doesn’t matter how much you earn or how many hours you work.  
Parents of two-year-olds can also access 15 hours a week of free early education and childcare if they receive additional forms of support such as universal credit. 
For all these schemes, the childcare provider must be approved – so informal providers such as grandparents don’t count.  
How do you apply? 
To receive the free childcare, you have to apply for it through the government website here. 
If you want to get 30 hours from September 2025, then you will need to apply by Sunday. 
To complete the application, you will need your national insurance number, or taxpayer reference if you are self-employed. 
You will need to detail the date you started or are due to start working, and any government support you receive. 
After you have applied, you will get a code to give to your approved childcare provider. 
If you’re already claiming 15 hours of free childcare and you work at least 16 hours a week, you can keep reconfirming as normal and if you’re still eligible, it will automatically be updated to 30 hours.  
Poundland says it will return to simple £1, £2 and £3 grocery pricing across all its UK stores as the chain looks to turn around its fortunes after avoiding administration.
The discount chain has pledged to price around 60% of grocery items at £1 across its stores following the changes, which comes after a five-month pilot at 17 locations in the West Midlands.
For more than 20 years since it was established in 1990, every item on sale in Poundland stores had been priced at £1. 
But the firm said the latest move will see it go “back to its roots” and mark “the end of additional price complexity”, with simple pricing set to be rolled out across general merchandise and clothing ranges in the coming months.
It comes as part of recovery plans after Poundland swerved collapse following High Court approval earlier this week for a major restructuring plan, just days before the firm was due to run out of money.
The scheme will see up to £60m of new funding injected to keep the retailer afloat.
Looking for something to do this weekend? 
Cineworld is selling all tickets for £4 on Saturday and Sunday as part of its Big Screen Weekend promotion. 
It’s available across all its cinemas, and covers films being shown on premium screens such as IMAX, 4DX and ScreenX – as well as recliner seats. 
Unlimited members will not have to pay the usual extra fee for premium screenings. 
The films you’ll be able to see might vary depending on the cinema you go to, but here are some that are out now: 
Bibendum, Claude Bosi’s two-Michelin starred restaurant in London, has announced its shock closure.
The South Kensington mainstay revealed the news on social media, with Bosi and his wife Lucy writing: “It is with deep sadness that we announce Claude Bosi Restaurant ceased trading on the 25 August and the Oyster Bar will close after service on 31 August.
“Despite our very best efforts, we were unable to reach a resolution with our partners and landlords that would allow Michelin House to move into its next chapter.”
It adds: “We are deeply grateful for the incredible support shown to us over the years. It has been an honour to be a part of the Michelin House story, and a privilege to share that journey with you.”
It’s been a tough few years for high-end restaurants due to people having less money, increased rents and business costs, and staff shortages after Brexit.
Marco Pierre White, Michel Roux Jr, Marcus Wareing, Monica Galetti and Simon Rimmer have all closed restaurants – while iconic London eateries Locanda Locatelli and Lyle’s have also closed down in the last year.
Bibendum gained its two Michelin stars less than a year after French chef Bosi took over in 2017. It was named after the “Michelin Man” himself, the mascot of the Michelin tyre company and its famous travellers’ guidebooks.
Bosi also runs the double Michelin-starred Brooklands by Hyde Park and has two branches of his French bistro, Josephine, in Chelsea and Marylebone.
By James Sillars, business and economics reporter 
It has not been the brightest of weeks for the FTSE 100 – a rarity during 2025 despite Trump 2.0.
The index is more than 1.3% down on the record highs seen just before the Bank Holiday weekend.
It’s been dragged lower by news out of the US, which has spooked confidence.
The big event has been the row over the independence of the US central bank, given that Donald Trump is trying to fire a Biden-appointed rate setter in a bid to get interest rate cuts over the line.
US stocks recovered some poise yesterday, with new record highs set, on the back of an upward revision to US economic growth in the second quarter.
It failed to lift the mood in Europe, however, and the FTSE 100 is down again at today’s open, trading 0.3% lower at 9,190.
Banks, which have had a stellar year, are leading the fallers.
It’s likely on the back of a thinktank report which calls on the chancellor to go after their profits in the budget.
The Institute for Public Policy Research says around £22bn a year, which goes to the banks as a result of the Bank of England’s historic bond-buying programme, represents a subsidy at the expense of public services as the Treasury is currently on the hook for the loss-making scheme.
Shares in NatWest, Lloyds and Barclays were all trading down by more than 3%.
Ryanair will allow customers to take on bigger underseat bags from next month.
The airline is increasing the maximum size of underseat bags by 20% – or 5cm. Overall, this means you get an extra four litres of space. 
The airline currently allows passengers to take on a bag that measures 40x25x20cm, but this will go up to 40x30x20cm. 
The bigger size is already listed under the “bag policies” section of the Ryanair website. 
Ryanair’s change comes after a landmark EU committee vote set out a requirement for passengers to be allowed one free 40x30x15cm bag on every flight.
Consumer site Which? reported that the change will be rolled out across 230 airports by the end of August.
A Ryanair spokesperson told Money: “Ryanair’s current free personal bag size is 40x25x20cm. 
“Following the new EU minimum bag size of 40x30x15cm, Ryanair will increase its max personal bag dimensions to 40x30x20cm, so that Ryanair’s personal bag allowance is bigger than the EU standard. 
“The new bag sizers are being rolled out and will be completed by the end of September. In the meantime, we recommend that all Ryanair passengers continue to comply with our current sizer capacity, which is 40x25x20cm. We will confirm publicly in due course when all sizers have been changed.” 
It’s hoped the change to standardise free cabin bag sizes will make it easier for travellers, so they can purchase one bag that can be used on all airlines which fly in and out of Europe. 
Ryanair’s new bag policy will apply to all passengers, whether they are travelling with only hand luggage, or with two bags, according to Which? 
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