The share of homes bought by a landlord has climbed to the highest level since 2016, says Hamptons.
This is driven mostly by a sharp rise in the number of landlord-to-landlord sales – typically smaller-scale landlords quitting the lettings sector because of the Renters Rights Act (RRA), then having their properties bought by larger-scale landlords.
After remaining subdued between 2016 and 2025, investor activity has picked up sharply this year as higher mortgage rates and the RRA prompted a reshuffling of the rental market.
Between January and April 2026, the share of homes bought by landlords across Great Britain rose to 13.3%.
This is the highest figure since the start of 2016 (13.3%), when the second home stamp duty surcharge was first introduced.
The sharpest increase has been seen across Northern England (the North East, North West and Yorkshire & Humber), where landlords made up 23.9% of buyers so far this year, up from 14.5% during the same period in 2025.
These levels are comparable with those seen prior to 2016, before higher rates of stamp duty and tighter tax treatment were introduced.
In the North, landlords accounted for 25.3% of buyers in the North West, 23.8% in the North East and 11.9% in Yorkshire & Humber so far this year.
Notably, the share of landlord purchases in the North West has more than doubled between 2025 and 2026.
By contrast, buy-to-let investment in the South of England has been broadly flat.
Across London, the South East, South West and East of England, landlords accounted for 9.1% of purchases, only marginally higher than the 8.8% recorded in 2025.
Share of homes bought by a landlord (Jan-Apr)
| Jan-Apr 2025 | Jan-Apr 2026 | Change | |
| London | 8.7% | 10.1% | 1.4% |
| South East | 9.7% | 8.7% | -1.0% |
| South West | 6.9% | 8.1% | 1.2% |
| East of England | 7.6% | 9.3% | 1.7% |
| East Midlands | 13.2% | 13.3% | 0.1% |
| West Midlands | 14.2% | 14.5% | 0.3% |
| North East | 24.6% | 23.8% | -0.8% |
| North West | 12.4% | 25.3% | 12.9% |
| Yorkshire & Humber | 12.5% | 11.9% | -0.6% |
| Scotland | 5.1% | 6.4% | 1.3% |
| Wales | 5.8% | 6.6% | 0.8% |
| Great Britain | 9.9% | 13.3% | 3.3% |
Source: Hamptons using Connells Group data
A growing proportion of purchases are landlord-to-landlord sales. Faced with higher borrowing costs and increased regulation, some landlords have chosen to exit the sector – and their homes are increasingly being bought by another investor.
So far this year, a record 23.0% of homes bought by landlords had previously been let by the previous owner.
This figure is up from 16.0% in 2025 and a five-year (2019-23) average of just 9.9%.
Landlords have been most likely to acquire previously let homes in areas where the economics of buy‑to‑let investment continue to stack up.
In the North East, 35.8% of buy-to-let purchases involved homes that had previously been rented, more than double the share which were previously let in London (16.8%).
In the capital, rented homes were more likely to be sold to a first-time buyer rather than kept within the rental market.
In a reversal of previous trends, houses were more likely than flats to remain in the rental sector. Some 60% of previously let homes bought by landlords in 2026 were houses, up from 40% five years ago.
Investors purchasing a previously rented home this year secured an average gross yield of 6.7%, based on the rent being paid at the point of sale and the purchase price.
This figure has risen from 5.7% in 2022, reflecting both a broader rise in yields and the fact that lower-yielding homes are increasingly being sold to buyers outside the rental sector.
