Company landlords are six times as likely to buy as those who own in their own name

Landlords who own their rental property through a limited company are six times as likely as those who own in their own name to be planning to buy more. Of company landlords, 18.3% plan to buy over the next three years (base 240), against 2.9% of personal-name landlords (base 941). Personal-name landlords, meanwhile, are far more likely to plan to leave the sector altogether.

These figures come from our Q3 2026 Landlord Sentiment Survey, which ran from 1 to 8 October 2026. 1,654 landlords took part and 1,472 completed every page. For the full results, including how sentiment has moved since Q1 and Q2, see the main Q3 2026 results article.

Most of our respondents still own in their own name: 60.7% hold their portfolio personally, 15.5% through a company and 13.9% through a mix of both (base 1,551). Here we look at how those groups differ in their plans, whether the differences are simply about age or portfolio size, and what role tax plays.

Company landlords are still buying; personal landlords plan to leave

Asked what is most likely for them over the next three years, 18.3% of company landlords said they would buy more property (base 240). Among landlords who own in their own name, the figure was 2.9% (base 941). Landlords with a mix of personal and company ownership sat in between at 13.0% (base 216), and partnerships close to personal owners at 4.9% (base 103).

The picture reverses for leaving the sector. 30.2% of personal-name landlords plan to exit completely, against 17.9% of company landlords. Mixed owners are the least likely of all to plan a full exit (10.2%), although half of them (50.0%) plan to sell some properties.

This is not a one-off. In Q2, when we asked exactly the same questions, 20.5% of company landlords planned to buy (base 312) against 5.5% of personal-name landlords (base 1,295), a gap of nearly four to one. Exit plans were 17.3% and 33.2% respectively. Personal-name buying intentions dipped slightly between Q2 and Q3 (from 5.5% to 2.9%), but changes of this size between quarters may reflect who answered rather than a real shift.

Critical Finding: In both surveys that have asked about the next three years, company landlords have been at least four times as likely as personal-name landlords to plan to buy, and roughly half as likely to plan to leave. The private rented sector is increasingly split between landlords who are still investing and landlords who are planning their way out, and ownership structure is one of the clearest dividing lines.

It is not about age or portfolio size

Company landlords are younger on average: 29.5% are under 55 (base 227), against 13.4% of personal-name landlords (base 886). They also own more property: the typical (median) company landlord has 11 properties (base 239), against four for a personal-name landlord (base 927). The averages are 26.0 and 6.7, pulled up by a small number of very large portfolios. Younger landlords and larger landlords are more likely to buy, so it is fair to ask whether that explains the gap.

It does not. Comparing landlords of the same age:

• Under 55: 34.8% of company landlords plan to buy (base 66), against 6.7% of personal-name landlords (base 119).

• 55 to 64: 13.2% (base 76) against 2.2% (base 322).

• 65 to 74: 11.9% (base 59) against 1.3% (base 312).

The same holds for landlords with similar portfolios. Among those with four to ten properties, 16.9% of company landlords plan to buy (base 83) against 3.0% of personal-name landlords (base 363). With 11 or more properties, the figures are 21.0% (base 124) and 4.4% (base 113).

When we allowed for age, portfolio size and whether landlords have mortgages all at once, company landlords still had around five times the odds of planning to buy.

Key Insight: Age matters for everyone, and buying intentions fall away sharply after 55 whatever the ownership structure. But at every age we could measure, company landlords are several times more likely to be buying. A 60-year-old company landlord is more likely to be planning a purchase than a personal-name landlord under 55.

Company landlords are trading, not leaving

If personal-name landlords are leaving, it has not yet shown up in their sales. Asked whether they had sold any rental property in the last 12 months, 30.3% of personal-name landlords said yes (base 911), against 35.3% of company landlords (base 232). That difference is too small to be meaningful at these sample sizes, but it is clear that company landlords have been selling at least as often.

Put together with their plans, this suggests two different kinds of activity. Company landlords are selling and buying: recycling capital, trading out of some properties and into others. Personal-name landlords are more often planning to sell up entirely.

The gap in exit plans is partly about portfolio size. Personal-name landlords are more likely to own just a few properties, and for a landlord with one or two homes, selling up and exiting are the same decision. Among landlords with similar portfolios the gap narrows, although it does not disappear: with four to ten properties, 20.1% of personal-name landlords plan a full exit (base 363) against 12.0% of company landlords (base 83); with 11 or more, 23.9% (base 113) against 14.5% (base 124). In Q2 the exit gap held firmly even after allowing for portfolio size.

Key Insight: Personal-name landlords are not yet selling more than company landlords; what differs is where they are heading. The “exodus” among personal-name landlords is, for now, a plan rather than an event, which means policy and market conditions over the next three years could still change how many actually go.

Tax is where the two groups part company

This quarter we asked landlords which other factors influence their decisions to buy and to sell. Respondents could choose more than one option, so totals exceed 100%.

The higher income tax rates on rental income due from April 2027 were the most widely cited tax factor overall, but the split by ownership is stark:

• As an influence on buying: 62.9% of personal-name landlords (base 883) and 70.4% of mixed owners (base 206), against 37.4% of company landlords (base 230).

• As an influence on selling: 61.7% of personal-name landlords (base 903) and 68.6% of mixed owners (base 204), against 38.9% of company landlords (base 229).

Section 24, which restricts the tax relief that individual landlords can claim on mortgage interest, follows the same pattern. It influences decisions to sell for 39.8% of personal-name landlords and 55.4% of mixed owners, against 24.9% of company landlords. Among personal-name landlords, those planning to exit are much more likely to cite it (48.9%, base 272) than those planning to stay the same (25.0%, base 240).

Company landlords’ pressures lie elsewhere. They are more likely than personal-name landlords to say rental income no longer covers costs (45.0% against 33.1%), which fits with more of them borrowing: 74.6% of company landlords have mortgages (base 232), against 59.7% of personal-name landlords (base 898). Personal-name landlords are more likely to cite their own age, retirement or health (49.5% against 40.2%).

The mixed group feels the squeeze most

Landlords with properties both personally and in a company are the most exposed to tax changes of all: seven in ten cite the April 2027 change, and more than half cite Section 24 as a reason to sell. Yet they are also the least likely to plan a full exit (10.2%) and 13.0% still plan to buy. Many appear to be partway through restructuring, selling some personally owned properties while continuing to invest through a company.

Section 24: top of the list for personal owners, bottom for companies

In every survey this year we have asked landlords to rank four changes that might encourage them to buy more property. Higher scores mean more important (4 is the maximum).

Personal-name landlords rank reversal of Section 24 first, with a score of 2.94 in Q3 (base 849), 2.85 in Q2 and 2.87 in Q1. Company landlords rank it last, at 2.31 (base 229), 2.36 and 2.39. For company landlords, falling interest rates come first (2.90 in Q3), followed by lower Stamp Duty (2.44).

One in three personal-name landlords (33.0%) put Section 24 reversal in first place this quarter, against 15.3% of company landlords.

Key Insight: The two groups want different things because they face different tax rules. Personal-name landlords’ top request has been the same in all three surveys: restore full relief on mortgage interest. Company landlords, who already deduct their finance costs, are watching interest rates. Small movements between quarters are within normal variation; the ordering has not changed once this year.

Many personal-name landlords would buy through a company next time

Preferences for how landlords would buy in future have barely moved this year: a limited company (SPV) is the preferred structure for 53.1% of landlords in Q3 (base 1,434), the same as in Q2 and up from 52.6% in Q1. The main results article covers how personal-name landlords say they would buy next time.

In landlords’ own words

We also asked what, if anything, would make landlords want to stay in the sector or expand. Section 24 came up in around one in nine answers from personal-name landlords (10.8%, 797 answers) and one in six from mixed owners (15.9%, 189), against around one in 35 from company landlords (2.9%, 204).

Themes from personal-name landlords included:

• Restore mortgage interest relief: many answers simply asked for Section 24 to be reversed or abolished, and for mortgage interest to be treated as an ordinary business cost.

• The cost of incorporating: some said they would stay or expand if they could move properties into a company without large Stamp Duty and Capital Gains Tax bills.

• No more tax rises: concern that personally owned property would continue to bear further tax increases.

Company landlords planning to buy more often talked about buying when prices are right, lower interest rates and Stamp Duty, faster court action against tenants who do not pay or damage property, and a commitment to staying in the sector for the long term.

How we analysed the results

• Questions: Q10 (ownership structure, base 1,551), Q3 (plans for the next three years, base 1,629), Q20 (sold in the last 12 months, base 1,502), Q18 and Q19 (other factors influencing decisions to buy and to sell, multi-select, bases 1,466 and 1,486), Q5 (ranking of four factors that would encourage buying, base 1,468) and Q6 (preferred structure for future purchases, base 1,434), compared with age (Q27), portfolio size (Q9) and average gearing (Q14).

• Bases: percentages are of landlords who answered both questions in each comparison, so bases vary. Ranking scores use SurveyMonkey’s weighted score: first place scores 4 and last place 1, and higher means more important.

• Groups: “personal name”, “limited company”, “mixed” and “partnership” are the answers to Q10. LLP (24 respondents) and “rather not say” (25) are excluded because they are too small to report. Under 35, 35 to 44 and 45 to 54 are combined as “under 55”. Portfolio size is grouped as three or fewer, four to ten and 11 or more.

• Small numbers: no group with fewer than 50 respondents is reported. Differences are described as meaningful only where they pass a standard statistical test at 95% confidence. The buying and exit differences were also checked in combined models allowing for age, portfolio size and mortgage status.

• Comparisons over time: ownership structure, the buying ranking and preferred purchase structure are unchanged since Q1. Our question about plans covered the next 12 months in Q1 and the next three years from Q2, so comparisons of plans use Q2 and Q3 only. Age was not asked in Q2, so age comparisons are for Q3 only. The questions on recent sales and on other factors influencing buying and selling are new this quarter.

• Who took part: respondents are self-selecting Property118 readers, not a random sample of all UK landlords. They are mostly experienced landlords aged 55 or over, and every question in Q3 could be skipped.

What Does This Mean for Landlords?

The survey points to a rented sector that is dividing along ownership lines. Landlords who own through a company are still buying, still selling and still trading. Landlords who own in their own name are much less likely to be buying and much more likely to be planning to leave altogether.

The difference is not explained by company landlords being younger or owning more property. It holds at every age and portfolio size we could measure. What does differ is tax. Personal-name landlords are far more likely to say the April 2027 income tax changes and Section 24 are shaping their decisions, and reversing Section 24 has been their top request in every survey this year. Company landlords, who can deduct their finance costs, are more concerned with interest rates and whether rents cover costs.

It is important not to overstate what this shows. These are the plans of engaged Property118 readers, not every landlord in the UK, and the survey shows that company ownership goes with buying intentions, not that incorporating causes a landlord to buy. Company landlords may simply be the more growth-minded investors to begin with. And personal-name landlords have not, so far, been selling more than company landlords: their exits are still intentions.

For policymakers, the message is that the landlords most likely to leave are those carrying the heaviest personal tax burden on their rental income, and those are still the majority of landlords. For individual landlords, the findings may raise questions about ownership structure. Incorporation has its own costs, including Stamp Duty, Capital Gains Tax and mortgage availability, and is not right for everyone; anyone considering it should take independent professional advice on their own circumstances.

The Q4 survey will show whether the gap between company and personal-name landlords continues to hold, and whether personal-name landlords’ plans to leave start to show up in what they actually sell.

Have Your Say

Do you own personally, through a company, or both, and has that shaped your plans for the next three years? Please tell us in the comments below; your experiences help explain what the numbers show.

Look out for the Q4 2026 survey at the end of December. The more landlords who take part, the stronger the evidence we can put in front of journalists and policymakers. Read the full Q3 2026 results.