An interesting new investigation has revealed that the number of buy-to-let landlords in Britain has dropped by 154,000 since 2015.
This was despite the volume of rented homes increasing by 171,000 over the same period, according to the report conducted by Countrywide.
Landlord Falls
Countrywide’s latest monthly letting index for August shows that the number of landlords has dropped in the last two years, owing largely to the tax changes implemented by the Government.
Despite these changes, there has been a rise in the supply of available properties to rent, from 4.9m in 2015 to 5.1m today.
The number of landlords owning a single buy-to-let property has fallen from 73%, down from 86% in 2010. On the other hand, the number owning 10 or more properties rose by 33% in the last ten years. The average portfolio size owned by buy-to-let investors currently stands at 1.44.
Regional Rates
Landlords based in the North East of England are likely to own the most properties, with an average of 1.54. This was followed by Yorkshire and the Humber (1.52) and London (1.51).
In terms of rents, the average for new lets in Britain rose to £954pcm in August, up by 1.6% on the same period one year ago.
Rents increased mostly in the South West, Scotland and East of England, increasing by 4.7%, 2.8% and 2.5% respectively.
Number of buy-to-let landlords is falling
Portfolios
Johnny Morris, Research Director at Countrywide, said: ‘The increasing number of rented homes is being driven by landlords expanding their portfolios rather than new landlords entering the market.’
‘Increasing regulation in the sector accompanied by recent changes to income tax relief on mortgage interest payments seem to be favouring more experienced, professional landlords. Despite expanding portfolio sizes the sector is still characterised by those owning just one or two homes, 73% of landlords own one home.’
‘Rents rose in all regions across Great Britain to stand 1.6% up on the same time last year. The number of landlord purchases continues to remain low which is feeding through into fewer homes on the rental market.’
‘Rents in London rose for the second consecutive month, driven by a pickup in rents in outer London.’[1]
[1] https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2017/9/fewer-landlords-cash-in-on-rising-rents-despite-expanding-portfolios