Exclusive BM research with over 600 of our buy-to-let borrowers reveals the difference in portfolio intentions, opinions and behaviours of younger landlords versus their older counterparts. And the results highlight opportunities for brokers to better support these younger landlords of the future.

This isn’t surprising. We would expect younger landlords to have less equity in their properties, a smaller portfolio and a longer-term outlook for example, and the research absolutely reflected this.

The younger the landlord, the more likely they are to have smaller portfolios and, as we’d expect, older landlords were more likely to have amassed more rental properties.

Only 9% of under-40s had more than three properties, compared to a third of over-70s.

But younger landlords are more likely to have a growth strategy for their portfolio, while more of our older landlords are looking towards an exit.

When it comes to buying and selling activity, the vast majority of landlords told us they’ve been holding steady – 83% said they had the same number of properties as a year ago, while 8% had more and 9% had fewer.

After the last challenging few years, this caution is to be expected. But there was a stark difference when we accounted for age.

In the under-40s, only 2% had fewer properties now than a year ago, compared to 11% of 60-69 year olds, suggesting a move to exit the sector from some older landlords.

Younger landlords are more likely to be building their portfolio, with 10% saying they now have more properties than a year ago, twice the proportion of the 5% of 60-69 year olds.

Looking ahead, a similar pattern emerges. A third (33%) of under-40s plan to increase their portfolios next year, compared to just 5% of landlords over 70. We also saw a fifth of landlords (22%) not yet sure of their portfolio intentions for the year ahead, perhaps waiting for regulatory certainty or further advice on their options.

All of this is important for brokers to know, because it highlights which landlords are likely to be around in the medium term and where your future business is going to come from – the under-50s.

The good news is our research also found that these landlords are most likely to need help understanding the sector and most likely to trust their broker.

We asked our landlords their thoughts about remortgaging and found the age group most likely to rely on their broker’s advice was the under-40s (59%) whereas only 21% of 60-69 year old landlords would choose their broker’s recommendation.

Landlords’ attitudes to using technology were also clearly delineated by age, with older landlords more than twice as likely to use their broker to check their balance or make overpayments for example. Our younger landlords were most likely to want to be able to manage their mortgages online (79%) – something they can now sign in and manage themselves on our Birmingham Midshires customer website.

Despite wanting practical help, older landlords are less likely to ask for wider support, with many stating that they already have a good understanding of their responsibilities around complying with regulation. Almost all (95%) of over-70s landlords said they have a good understanding of this, whereas almost three in 10 younger landlords accepted they could use more help with understanding regulation.

Finally, younger landlords are also more likely to want to make improvements to their properties, including energy-efficient improvements. More than half (55%) of under-40s already have plans to make energy-efficient home improvements to their rental properties compared to just 30% of over-70s.

Younger landlords are the future of the buy-to-let sector. They are more likely to grow their property portfolio, improve their properties, take broker advice and want to communicate and manage their mortgages online.

They are also less confident about their responsibilities as a landlord and need some handholding to help them to understand changing rules and regulations.

Brokers are well-placed to support younger landlords not only with their mortgage finance, but with wider information on the private rented sector. That could include signposting them to trusted sources of information, encouraging them to join landlord associations, or contacting them to keep them up to date with new rules and regulations, and to review their mortgages.

And finally consider how you are reaching and communicating with potential and existing younger landlords, and your use of social media platforms to do this.

The stereotype of older landlords may still hold true, but the sector is constantly evolving and the needs of younger landlords can look markedly different.

Understanding these needs and supporting all your buy-to-let clients is one way to differentiate yourself and retain your younger clients throughout their property investment journey.

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