PRS Landlord Numbers Fall

According to Hamptons International's latest monthly letting index, the number of landlords in the private rental sector has fallen to a seven-year low,.

Recent tax and legislative changes have resulted in a reduction in the total number of privately rented homes, falling by 156,410 since its peak in 2017, and yet the number of landlords has fallen further.

Hamptons International estimates that there were 222,570 fewer landlords in the PRS in 2019 than in 2017.

The number of landlords peaked at 2.88 million in 2017, but tax and regulatory changes have caused some landlords to sell up and leave the sector.

By 2019, there were 2.66 million landlords in Great Britain, 8% fewer than the 2017 peak, which means that the number of landlords has fallen to the lowest level in seven years when there were 2.58 million landlords in Great Britain.

Despite the drop in the number of landlords in the PRS, the average landlord now owns more properties.

The average landlord in Great Britain owned 1.93 buy-to-let properties last year, the highest level since 2009 when the average landlord owned 2.02 properties.

Last year 30% of landlords owned more than one buy-to-let property, the highest proportion on record, which is up from 21% in 2016 when many of the tax and regulatory changes were announced and is double the proportion recorded a decade ago when 15% of landlords owned multiple buy-to-let.

For further information:

Hamptons International Monthly Lettings Index – January 2020