Company landlords scoop up biggest share of rental market in eight years

The share of company landlord lets has risen steadily since 2016, when tapering mortgage interest tax relief for non-company landlords was announced. 

Company landlords’ chunk of the home letting market was nine per cent in 2015 before the tax changes were unveiled.

The index showed that landlords owned 641,480 homes in the UK in H1 2019, or 42 per cent more than in 2015.

The average rental for a new let rose to £986 per calendar month in June, up 3.1 per cent year on year.

“Strong rents in the South, based on low stock levels, drove up average rents in June. The average cost of a monthly rental rose in six out of eight regions. The East and Wales recorded small falls,” said Aneisha Beveridge, Hamptons Intenational head of research.

The average price of rents grew most strongly in the South West, up 4.5 per cent in June compared to a year ago.

In London, price growth was 4.3 per cent up in June against the same month in 2018.

The index is based on achieved rents for 90,000 homes let and managed by agency Countrywide Group.