According to research from Paragon Bank, which surveyed 800 people and was undertaken by BVA BDRC, 14 per cent of landlords surveyed in Q4 2021 were planning to purchase a new property during 2022.
This is slightly down from the same period in 2020, where 16 per cent of landlords said they intended to purchase property in the next 12 months.
Within that, 40 per cent are planning to buy a semi-detached house, with 39 per cent seeking terraced houses.
Demand for semi-detached houses amongst landlords has grown by six percentage points since the second quarter of last year.
The report added that demand for semi-detached houses has grown consistently during the pandemic, as demand for bigger homes from tenants rose.
Detached homes have also increased in popularity, doubling from nine per cent in Q2 2019 to 18 per cent Q4 2021.
Around 17 per cent of landlords are planning to buy individual flats, whilst 16 per cent are planning to buy houses in multiple occupation.
Richard Rowntree, mortgages managing director for Paragon Bank, said: “The pandemic has accelerated some of the trends we were already seeing in the profile of tenants, such as older tenants and more families, resulting in growing demand for semi-detached and detached homes.
“We have certainly seen a more recent trend for higher demand for larger homes due to a greater prevalence of home working, whilst we have also seen more families sell their home to relocate and renting before they buy.”
He added that it was expecting to see landlords prepare for upcoming changes in Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) requirements, which will mandate that buy-to-let properties to have an EPC rating of C or above by 2023.
