Where the homes and the tenants go when landlords sell

Almost half of landlords with 21 or more properties (46.2%, base 173) have sold at least one rental property in the past year, and in four in ten sales where a tenant was in place (41.6%, base 380), the landlord either does not know where the tenant went or the council rehoused them.

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.

This quarter, for the first time, we asked landlords whether they had sold any rental property in the last 12 months, who bought it, and what happened to the tenants. The main article reported the headline answers. Here we look more closely at which landlords are selling, where the homes are going, and what that means for the people living in them.

The bigger the portfolio, the more likely the landlord has sold

Almost a third of respondents (31.5%) sold at least one rental property in the last 12 months (base 1,502). That share rises steadily with the number of properties a landlord owns now: from 22.9% of those with 0 or 1 property (base 188) and 24.9% of those with 2 or 3 (base 338), through 30.9% with 4 or 5 (base 246), 33.6% with 6 to 10 (base 342) and 35.6% with 11 to 20 (base 191), to 46.2% of those with 21 or more (base 173).

Key Insight: Selling is not confined to small or “accidental” landlords. The largest landlords in our survey are the most likely to have sold in the past year, and the jump at 21 or more properties is too large to be explained by normal survey variation. Because these landlords hold the most homes, their decisions have the greatest effect on the supply of rental property.

Small landlords sell to leave; large landlords sell to trim

What landlords who have sold plan next depends heavily on the size of their portfolio. Among recent sellers with three or fewer properties, 59.5% now plan to exit the sector completely over the next three years (base 126). Among recent sellers with 21 or more properties, just 26.2% plan to exit (base 80), while 62.5% plan to sell some, but not all, of what they own. Sellers with 4 to 10 properties (33.5% exit, base 191) and 11 to 20 (30.9%, base 68) sit in between.

Selling and leaving are closely linked across the survey as a whole. Half of all landlords planning to exit completely (50.4%, base 369) have already sold at least one property in the last year, against just 8.3% of those planning to keep their portfolio as it is (base 410). Of all recent sellers, 39.4% plan to exit completely and only 2.3% plan to buy (base 472).

Even leaving aside everyone who plans to exit, large landlords are selling more: 40.4% of those with 21 or more properties who are not planning to leave have sold in the last year (base 146), against 23.2% of other landlords not planning to leave (base 969).

Key Insight: For a small landlord, a sale is usually the first step out of the sector. For a large landlord, it is more often a deliberate reduction: trimming the portfolio, perhaps selling the least profitable homes, while staying in business. Both mean fewer homes to rent, but the second group remains in the market and could respond quickly if conditions change.

Who is buying, and why it depends on where you are

Across all 476 sellers, first-time buyers were the most common buyers (35.3%), followed by another private landlord (29.6%) and another owner-occupier (28.8%). Corporate or institutional buyers bought from 7.6% of sellers and sitting tenants from 6.1%; 10.9% did not know who had bought. Respondents could choose more than one option, so these figures total more than 100%.

The chance that a rental home was sold to another landlord varies sharply by region. Among landlords who own property in London, only 19.2% sold to another landlord (base 99). In the West Midlands the figure was 45.3% (base 64), in the North East 41.2% (base 51), in the East Midlands 37.9% (base 58) and in the North West 36.6% (base 82). The South West (27.9%, base 68) and South East (25.2%, base 111) were closer to London.

Larger landlords also sell to a wider mix of buyers. Among sellers with 21 or more properties (base 80), 37.5% sold to an owner-occupier and 12.5% to a corporate or institutional buyer, against 23.3% and 4.7% of sellers with three or fewer properties (base 129). Sales to another landlord edged up with portfolio size (from 26.4% to 36.2%), but that difference is too small to be certain of at these numbers.

Key Insight: Where a home is sold to another landlord, it is likely to stay available to rent. In the Midlands and the North, close to four in ten sellers found a landlord buyer. In London, fewer than one in five did, which suggests that a rental home sold in the capital is more likely to leave the private rented sector for good.

Where the tenants go

In the main article we reported tenant outcomes for all 457 sellers who answered, including those whose property was already empty. Here we focus on the 380 sales where a tenant was in place, which gives a clearer view of what happens to the people living in the home.

In 37.9% of those sales, the landlord says the tenant found another private rental, and in 11.3% the tenant bought the property. A further 4.7% of landlords moved the tenant to another of their own properties. However, in 28.4% of cases the tenant had to leave and the landlord does not know where they went, and in 15.8% the council rehoused them. Taken together, 41.6% of landlords who sold a tenanted property report either council rehousing or an unknown destination. A further 16.6% did not know what had happened. Respondents could choose more than one option, so the figures total more than 100%.

The picture was similar for landlords who let to tenants receiving benefits. Of the 72 who sold, 19.4% reported tenants rehoused by the council and 30.6% that tenants had to leave to an unknown destination, compared with 13.2% and 21.0% of those letting only to working tenants (base 257). Those differences point the same way, but they are within the margin of error at these numbers, so we cannot say with confidence that benefit tenants fare worse.

A small number of landlords described the other side of this in their own words. A few said councils had advised tenants not to leave until bailiffs arrived; in one case, the landlord said this caused a sale to fall through. Another landlord, selling after many years, said they had decided to sell only because a long-standing tenant had moved out.

Key Insight: In around half of tenanted sales (49.5%), the tenant found another rental, bought the home or moved to another of the landlord’s properties. But in four in ten, the tenant either needed the council or left without the landlord knowing where. If landlord exits continue at the pace this survey suggests, local authorities and the households they house are likely to feel the effect.

Who is selling: age, experience and portfolios already shrinking

Selling peaks in the years around retirement. 36.2% of landlords aged 65 to 74 have sold in the last 12 months (base 489), and 33.3% of those aged 55 to 64 (base 522). Fewer of those aged 75 or over have sold (26.8%, base 194), and fewer still among those under 55 (23.4%, base 248).

Sellers have also already come a long way down from their own peak. Nine in ten landlords who sold (88.8%) now own fewer properties than they once did, and together they hold 36.0% fewer homes than at their peak (base 446). Among landlords who have not sold in the last year, 41.3% are below their peak and together they hold 17.9% fewer homes (base 964).

One factor made almost no difference: borrowing. Mortgage-free landlords were as likely to have sold (30.6%, base 507) as those in every gearing band from under 30% to 70% loan to value (between 32.0% and 33.5%). Landlords who let to tenants on benefits sold at the same rate as those letting to working tenants (31.9%, base 226, against 30.4%, base 1,158).

Key Insight: The landlords selling now are mostly experienced owners in their late fifties to mid seventies, many of whom have been reducing their portfolios for some time. Their sales are not driven by debt alone: the mortgage-free are selling as often as the heavily borrowed. That fits the main article’s finding that tax, regulation and life stage, more than the market, are shaping decisions.

How we analysed the results

• Questions: Q20 (sold any rental properties in the last 12 months, base 1,502), Q21 (who bought them, base 476) and Q22 (what happened to the tenants, base 457). Q21 and Q22 were shown to landlords who said they had sold. Four landlords who did not answer “yes” to Q20 answered Q21; they are included, as in the main article.

• Tenanted sales: the tenant outcomes in this article use the 380 sellers who did not answer only “the property was already empty”.

• Cross-tabulations: percentages are of landlords who answered both questions, so bases vary. Portfolio size uses the number of properties owned now (Q9). Among sellers, portfolio bands were merged into 0 to 3 and 4 to 10 because fewer than 50 single-property landlords answered Q21 and Q22. Under 35, 35 to 44 and 45 to 54 were merged as “under 55”. The comparison with working tenants uses landlords who let only to working tenants. Regions and tenant types are multi-select, so groups overlap.

• 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.

• What the survey counts: landlords who sold, not properties sold. Q21 and Q22 allowed more than one answer, so the figures total more than 100%.

• Comparisons over time: these questions were new in Q3 2026, so there is no trend yet. They set a baseline for Q4.

• 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?

This survey shows the selling that landlords have talked about all year is happening, and it is not limited to small landlords. Almost half of those with the largest portfolios sold in the past year, although most of them intend to keep at least part of their portfolio. For smaller landlords, a sale is more often a step out of the sector altogether.

Where the homes go depends on where they are. Outside London, a sale often keeps the home available to rent through another landlord. In London, that is much less likely. For tenants, most landlords report a reasonable outcome, but a significant minority do not know where their tenants went or report that the council rehoused them.

These are early findings from new questions, based on what landlords tell us, and they describe engaged Property118 readers rather than every landlord in the UK. Repeating the questions in Q4, with the option for tenants who stayed in place, will show whether the pattern holds. But the direction is consistent with everything else in this quarter’s survey: decisions to sell are being shaped by policy and life stage, and their effects are being felt by tenants and councils as well as landlords.

Have Your Say

Have you sold a rental property in the past year? Who bought it, and what happened to your tenants? Please share your experience in the comments below; it helps us understand what lies behind the numbers.

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.