January always brings a strange mix of optimism and realism.

There is the ritual of fresh starts, new diaries, and renewed energy. Then there is the reality that most people return to exactly the same constraints they left in December. This year, that contrast feels sharper.

This is the first edition of The PropTech Edit of the year, and it feels important to say this plainly. We are not entering a “bounce back” phase. We are entering a more intentional one.

The market has changed. And the way landlords, operators, and founders are thinking has changed with it.

A new year, but not a blank slate

What I am seeing now is not panic. It is recalibration.

Landlords are running the numbers again, properly this time. Interest rates may have stabilised, but they are still materially higher than the assumptions many portfolios were built on. Refinancing conversations are slower, more forensic, and often more sobering.

EPC requirements continue to influence hold versus sell decisions, particularly for older stock. For some, retrofit still makes sense. For others, it does not. The difference is that fewer people are pretending otherwise.

The proposed changes around tenancy reform are also weighing on sentiment. Even before legislation fully lands, uncertainty changes behaviour. It makes landlords more cautious about expansion, more selective about tenants, and more aware of operational risk.

Add rising insurance premiums, local licensing schemes, and the cumulative effect of tax pressure, and a pattern emerges. This is not a market that rewards casual ownership anymore.

It rewards attention.

Decisions feel heavier because the margin for error is thinner

On the ground, the mood is thoughtful rather than fearful.

Many landlords I speak to are not asking, “How do I grow faster?” They are asking, “What is worth the effort now?” and “What do I want this portfolio to look like in five years, not twelve months?”

Some are reducing unit counts to improve quality and resilience. Some are professionalising systems they previously tolerated being messy. Some are choosing not to act at all, which in itself is a decision.

This is operator reality in 2026. Fatigue is real. Timing matters more than bravado. And the cost of getting it wrong feels higher than it used to.

PropTech is being judged differently now

This shift is also changing how technology is received.

Landlords are no longer impressed by features alone. They want fewer tools that do more, not more tools that promise everything. Adoption is slower because scrutiny is higher. Implementation has to earn its place.

The PropTech that succeeds in this phase understands the pressures landlords are under. Cash flow sensitivity. Regulatory exposure. Decision overload. Tools that reduce friction and uncertainty are being kept. Everything else is quietly ignored.

This is not a failure of innovation. It is a correction in expectations.

Capital is cautious, but it is still paying attention

Money has not left the sector. It has become disciplined.

Leverage is being used more carefully. Cash buffers are being protected. Deals are being stress-tested against scenarios that would once have felt overly conservative.

What I hear privately is not despair. It is restraint. A desire to stay credible, solvent, and ready. A recognition that survival and optionality are strategies in their own right.

These are not conversations that trend online, but they are shaping real decisions every day.

What this means for The PropTech Edit

This edition marks a clear reset for the year ahead.

Not a rebrand, and not a pivot, but a sharpening of purpose.

The PropTech Edit exists to help property professionals make sense of a slower, more selective market. To bridge what is being shouted publicly with what is actually being felt privately. To explore how technology, capital, and community intersect when certainty is in short supply.

This will remain founder-led, grounded, and opinionated where it needs to be. No guru messaging. No trend-chasing. Just clear thinking for people still operating, still investing, and still making hard calls.

It also means being honest about where some conversations belong.

A question for you

Where are you paying closest attention right now?
What decisions feel heavier than they used to?

The property world might be global, but the most important signals are increasingly local.
The operators who build clarity and relationships now will be the ones quietly shaping what comes next.

Thanks again for reading The PropTech Edit.
Feel free to subscribe, share, and forward this to someone navigating this market more thoughtfully than previous years.

Melissa Lewis
Founder & CEO, ML Property Venture


Some of the thinking behind these editions, comes from ongoing conversations inside The Intentional Property Network - a private, calm community for new and aspiring investors who want depth, clarity, and better decision-making.
Learn more about TIPN here: https://mlpropertyventure.co.uk/the-intentional-property-network