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11:24 AM, 17th April 2023, About A year ago 39
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Most BTL investor sales are from those landlords who were among the first to invest after buy to let mortgages were launched in 1996, research reveals.
The findings from Hamptons show that landlords are now retiring and selling up in increasing numbers – and the number will rise over the coming years.
The estate and letting agents say that with the average landlord turning 60, it is now these older investors who are leaving the market.
The agency estimates that 140,000 landlords retired last year, and they accounted for nearly three-quarters (73%) of all landlord sales.
Aneisha Beveridge, the head of research at Hamptons, said: “Two decades on from the birth of buy-to-let mortgages in the late 1990s, early investors are starting to sell up.
“This means that demographics alone will push up the number of landlord sales over the next five years to reach a new peak.
“This was likely to happen irrespective of the tax or regulatory changes introduced since 2016 and the more recent higher interest rate environment.”
Hamptons says that with around 96,000 landlords turning 65 each coming year across Great Britain, the number of landlords who are retiring will continue rising and will hit a new peak in five years.
And this is on top of nearly 924,000 landlords who are already over the age of 65.
The research shows that between 2010 and 2022, the number of landlords who retired every year has doubled – and this will rise as the population grows older.
Hamptons says that properties that were bought by landlords 15-25 years ago still make up the majority of privately rented homes in Great Britain.
Just over half (51%) of today’s total number of outstanding buy-to-let mortgages were taken out between 1996 and 2007.
And it is this cohort of ageing investors who bought when the sector was growing rapidly that are now increasingly likely to sell up and cash out.
But they leave behind a gap which is not being filled by new landlords entering the sector.
Ms Beveridge said: “While the tax and regulatory changes haven’t driven a buy-to-let sell off, they have stemmed the next generation of landlords.
“The number of new purchases by landlords has remained relatively muted.
“Millennials, who have struggled to get onto the housing ladder, have not been in a position to afford or consider purchasing a buy-to-let too.”
Hamptons says that the ageing landlord profile has played out in recent investor sales with 45% of homes sold by landlords so far this year being bought at least 15 years ago.
That’s up from 2018’s figure of 33%.
The firm says that many of the first buy-to-let mortgages were used to purchase new low-rise city centre flats and it’s these flats which form the largest proportion of sales by today’s long-term landlords.
Suburban London tops the list with 60% of landlord sales in Redbridge having been owned for 15+ years, followed by 59% in Ealing, 58% in Harrow, 55% in Barnet and 53% in Enfield.
Meanwhile, Hamptons says that rent growth in March reached its third ever double-digit increase since its Lettings Index began in February 2014.
In March, the average rent for a newly let home reached £1,236 per month – that is 10.8% or £121pcm higher than the same month last year.
March also saw the second fastest increase posted in any month after the 11.5% increase in May 2022.
Ms Beveridge said: “While house price growth continues to slow, rents keep moving in the opposite direction.
“Tenants find themselves with a little more choice than they did last year, which has been reflected in a 10% increase in the number of tenants moving home.
“However, the number of rental homes on the market seems to have found a new normal at nearly two-thirds below pre-pandemic levels.”
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Whiteskifreak Surrey
20:12 PM, 18th April 2023, About A year ago
Reply to the comment left by MarkT at 17/04/2023 - 15:36
Mark, may I ask who bought your properties? Were they FTBs, or corporate Landlords? Or landlords with Ltd? Or private?
It would be interesting to know who the buyers were.
Thank you.
MarkT
8:56 AM, 19th April 2023, About A year ago
Reply to the comment left by Whiteskifreak Surrey at 18/04/2023 - 20:12Hi I actually sold to FTB and people moving up as had quite a few 3 beds. Only one was sold to a landlord and the tenant remained. All my properties were typically red brick 1900-1950 houses, ie average houses, average location, therefore perfect for family rentals – but not great to hit modern day EPC targets – and let’s be honest, not one of my tenants in over 20 years ever cared about the EPC. They just wanted a roof over their head in a clean, well maintained property for an affordable rent – which is why I never had void periods and had many tenants for 10 plus years. And no it was not easy to tell them I was selling but I gave many over a years notice and explained the why to them
So yes I have actually released property back into the open market which is good however this is just increasing the problem of lack of rental property. Not one of my ex tenants were in a position to buy a property and many of them were moved to social housing by the council which I helped them achieve. I have also genuinely seen the effect of my own actions here as 2 of the properties I currently have S21 notices on, the tenants are indeed struggling to find somewhere , let alone somewhere that is affordable. I am again working with them and the local housing associations to help them try and find social housing , which we all know is a mess
The more landlords like myself sell and I do believe this sell off will continue ie due to the latest interest rate rises and the impact this is causing on S24 plus the cut in capital gains tax allowance and let’s assume the CGT tax rates will go up in the coming years. All of this will continue to create more and more issues. As an example, if I had not sold so many properties over the last 5 years, I estimate my interest payments would have been circa £40K per year. In what other business could I not claim that as a legitimate expense, I have to pay it , it’s a real cost.
You could argue having the amount of property I did was wrong, that it should not be tied up in the hands of one person etc etc, All are valid points but people need somewhere to live and not everyone can buy, my tenants certainly could not. I set fair rents , had well maintained properties, knew all my tenants well, even got xmas cards and ALL of them understand my reason for selling. This still meant they had to go through the process of finding somewhere , dealing with what can only be described as dysfunctional councils who only ever offered the same advise which was “stay where you are until you are evicted”. So I did indeed have to go through the eviction process a number of times with tenants I liked to help them secure a social property. The time, costs and stress on all sides was completely unreasonable and every tenants I helped thought this is now resettled and has thanked me for it. We are for some reason one of the most vilified sectored by the media yet every landlord I have ever known has always wanted the best for their tenants. I fully expect that I will indeed have to go via that courts/eviction route again but will continue supporting my current tenants until all the properties are sold. Going forward, I will still buy property but will just aim to buy, refurbish and sell.
Reluctant Landlord
9:24 AM, 19th April 2023, About A year ago
Reply to the comment left by TJP at 18/04/2023 - 18:20Then you need to write back to the Courts to say this is unjustified and unfair. There must be a way of appealing/contesting this. Try Citizens advice? Landlord Action? Violation of your human rights? Start googling and looking doing some research into this. Write to your MP. Above all do something as this is just not on!
Maybe write tot he court stating because of this you now NEED to sell up.
Whiteskifreak Surrey
9:40 AM, 19th April 2023, About A year ago
My MP is sadly immune to any voice of reason.
Firstly totally comitted to BoJo, then Lizzie, now Sunak. Zero thinking of their own.
Waste of time. They never reply anyway.
JB
9:44 AM, 19th April 2023, About A year ago
Reply to the comment left by TJP at 17/04/2023 - 18:35
This is a scandel and I really feel for you.
This obviously costs the landlord a huge amount of time, money and stress.
It also ultimately costs the tenant in terms of incresed rent to cover losses and shortgage of supply when landlords can't stand it any more.
There's another aspect to consider too. I have lovely tenants, most of whom I've had for years but I have to admit my attitude towards tenants is hardening. It only takes one bad tenant to start resenting them all. And I stopped doing all the helpful little extra things for them several years ago - instead my times goes on admin and covering my ar*e.
TJP
10:32 AM, 19th April 2023, About A year ago
Reply to the comment left by JB at 19/04/2023 - 09:44
Thank you all for your sympathy. I am fortunate in that almost all of my tenants are really nice people, and we get along fine. In fact the one I am trying to evict is the only dodgy one. My solicitor has advised me to pursue a Section 8 instead. Apparently, it's much more difficult for the courts to 'invent' a defense for arrears of rent. On a broader note, it seems the willingness of of judges to invent evidence is further proof of the politicizing of the legal system. ECO warriors that barristers refuse to prosecute and now courts/judges who invent evidence to screw-over landlords. Am I paranoid?
Reluctant Landlord
10:46 AM, 19th April 2023, About A year ago
Reply to the comment left by TJP at 19/04/2023 - 10:32
I suggest your solicitor should be looking into the getting the defferment challenged first as there seems no legal reason why it should be the case in the first place. Section 8 leaves the tenant room to defend the claim, with the perfect claim of 'disrepair' being the obvious one to use (even if not at all true)....
Issue another S21 might be easier.
Rod
10:48 AM, 19th April 2023, About A year ago
Reply to the comment left by northern landlord at 18/04/2023 - 19:57
Unfortunately, politics is rarely home to that most precious of the senses - common sense.
The risk of S21 being repealed with no progress on improving the court process and untested (probably inadequate) amended/new S8 grounds has always been a major concern at iHowz.
iHowz published our proposal to amend the S21 notice period and provide compensation for long term good tenants when a landlord needed possession of a property.
This is so that good tenants who have rented a property for several years have a meaningful amount of time to find their new home and recognises that this may include finding new schools for their children. In doing so, it meets the previously stated requirements of many tenant groups.
In addition, we recognise that deposits (if held) will probably be lower than required for a new rental and that the tenant may not have sufficient savings to cover moving and incidental costs, so propose a refund of the last two months rent, subject to continued compliance with the tenancy.
Our view is that 2 months' rent is a small price to pay when good tenants who have kept their rent up to date over several years are asked to move. After all, there are posts on this site, virtually every week, highlighting the cost and time it takes to recover property from less desirable tenants. After all, several years of continuous rent with no voids or other issues, no arrears, no damage and no court costs (if they move without court order) seems a small price to pay and would certainly make the process fairer.
iHowz highlighted the risk of allowing S21 to be repealed to the NRLA, and even gave them an overview of our proposal before it was published, but they felt that Government's assurances for their unpublished white paper were sufficient. It is notable that their position appears to have become more cautious.
Details of our proposal can be found on our website, and we urge landlords to share it with their MP while highlighting their concerns.
https://ihowz.uk/the-unintended-consequences-of-losing-the-section-21-notice/
TJP
11:02 AM, 19th April 2023, About A year ago
Reply to the comment left by DSR at 19/04/2023 - 10:46
My original Section 21 was issued in December 2021. It finally came to court in Sept 2022, was deferred to February 2023 and, on three days notice, was further deferred to February 2024. Clearly the court does not want to hear the case. They have 'important' cases to hear. I have to say, I think the whole 'taking-to-court' procedure is a nonsense. What other simple contract between between two willing participants routinely ends up in court when one or the other wishes to end it? Both signed the thing...including the section for ending it ???
Reluctant Landlord
11:29 AM, 19th April 2023, About A year ago
Reply to the comment left by TJP at 19/04/2023 - 11:02
issue another S21 now. On expiry go straight to accelerated. Don't put up with this. If issued legally correctly the judge has to proceed. Sounds like it has got caught up with the 'covid era' for evictions and deemed lower priority.
Write this off and start again. Get another solicitor asap as this one sounds like he/she not bothered.