New official data profiles buy to let landlords, their property businesses and how they tick.
Every two years, the government publishes the English Housing Survey, that offers landlords and other property professionals detailed information about the property market.
Here’s what the facts and figures say about buy to let landlords:
- Most landlords operate as individuals with 94% of landlords renting personally, 4% through a company and 2% operating as some other organisation.
- Although 45% of landlords own one property, half of buy to let homes are let by the 17% of landlords with five or more properties.
- Single property landlords account for 21% of all buy to let homes. Another 38% own two to four homes, which account for 31% of the market, while the remaining 17% of landlords own five or more rented homes, which add up to 48% of the market.
- The number of single property landlords has plunged from 78% of all private rented homes to 45% since 2010 – equivalent to a decline from 40% to 21% of the market.
- The number of landlords with portfolios of five or more homes climbed from 5% to 17% since 2010 – from 39% to 48% market share.
- Buy to let landlords are likely to be aged over 55 years old (59%) and retired (33%).
- Most landlords (70%) have let property for six years or more, while their average time-served in buy to let is 11.5 years.
- Nearly half (46%) became landlords because they preferred property to other investments, while 44% consider their property a pension. Only 4% let property as a full-time business.
- Landlords earn a gross income of £15,000 a year before tax and other deductions. Rent makes up an average two fifths (42%) of their total gross income.
- 61% landlords had gross rental income of less than £20,000, while 26% reported making between £20,000 and £49,999. One in eight (13%) reported a gross rental income of £50,000 or more from renting out property.
- Just over half of landlords (53%) plan to keep their portfolios intact, with 11% planning to increase the number of properties they own, 10% likely to reduce the number of properties in their portfolios (representing 18% of tenancies) and 5% planning to sell all their rental property and leave the rental business (representing 5% of tenancies).
