Majority of landlords don't plan to sell any buy-to-let properties

The majority of buy-to-let landlords (64%) are not planning to sell any of their properties in the next 12 months, new research from Landbay shows.

The strongest sentiment was found among landlords with individual properties (75%) and those with smaller portfolios of two or three properties (69%). However, almost the same number of landlords with more than 20 properties (65%) shared the same intention.

Meanwhile, the number of landlords planning to sell some properties increased slightly to 30% - from 28% in the previous survey conducted in Q4 2022. Only 6% plan to sell all their properties with respondents split across small, medium and large landlords.

As to be expected, the deciding factor for 60% of landlords intending to sell is rising interest rates – an increase from 45% in the previous survey, while almost half (45%) said rent doesn’t cover their mortgage costs – up from 28%. Respondents also mentioned landlord taxation (47%), the cost of meeting the proposed EPC requirements (40%) and worries about evicting tenants (34%).

Paul Brett, Landbay’s managing director of intermediaries, said: “While it’s certainly the case that some landlords are trimming their portfolios in the current climate, our latest data demonstrates that the majority are not looking to make any cuts at all. This is positive news for the wider housing market which is so reliant on rental supply. After all, one-in-five houses in England and Wales depend on the private rented sector for housing.

“As a specialist buy-to-let lender, we are always looking at ways to innovate to not only support buyers, but those landlords set to remortgage. With high levels of maturity in the buy-to-let market this year, there will be many weighing up their options in a higher interest environment."