Landlords purchased one in ten (10%) homes sold across Great Britain during the first half of this year, according to the June 2024 Hamptons Monthly Lettings Index. This is the lowest share since the firm began compiling records in 2010 and is considerably less than the 16% recorded in 2015 - before tax and regulatory changes were introduced, which reduced the appeal of investment in buy-to-let (BTL).

More recently, high mortgage rates combined with political uncertainty and the threat of new rental regulations have weighed on the appetite for new investors to enter the market. The share of investor purchases has been gradually falling over the course of the year, reaching a low of 9.7% in June.

Assuming current trends continue into the second half of the year, in number terms, there are likely to be 113,630 new buy-to-let purchases across Great Britain in 2024, 75,900 or 40% fewer than in 2015.

Landlord purchases have fallen in every region except the North East since 2015. The North East is still the highest-yielding region in the country and is where property investors remain most active. Here, the share of homes bought by a landlord has risen slightly from 24% in 2015 to 25% in 2024.

London, the lowest-yielding region in the country, has seen the biggest decline in new landlord purchases. The share of homes bought by landlords in the capital has more than halved, from 17% in 2015 to an all-time low of 8% so far this year. Lower rental returns, on average, in the capital have given landlords less headroom to cover higher costs.

However, Scotland has the lowest level of investor purchases. Buy-to-let investors have bought just 5% of homes sold in Scotland so far this year, down from 10% in 2015 and 7% in 2019. Tighter rental regulations were introduced in Scotland during Covid alongside a new 6% stamp duty surcharge on second home purchases at the end of 2022.