New research from The Mortgage Works has revealed a striking imbalance in the buy-to-let market, with 43% of landlords saying they intend to sell property over the next 12 months compared with just 6% who intend to buy. Experts have warned that "the pressure on rents could be relentless."
Planned sales seven times higher than purchases
The Q2 2026 Buy-to-Let Market Barometer says planned sales activity is now more than seven times higher than expected purchasing activity. Landlord confidence has also weakened year-on-year, including falls in confidence about rental yields, their own lettings businesses and future capital gains.
The research also found the proportion of landlords who have increased rents over the previous 12 months has fallen to 63%, compared with 69% a year earlier and 74% two years ago. Meanwhile, 40% of leveraged landlords expect to remortgage or arrange a product transfer during the coming year.
Professional landlords stepping in
Among landlords who do intend to purchase, 64% plan to buy through a limited company, while 48% expect to use buy-to-let finance for their next acquisition. The typical landlord surveyed owns 7.2 properties and achieves a gross rental yield of 6.4%, while 51% have at least one buy-to-let mortgage.
Iain Thompson, director of Evolve Finance, said casual landlords were leaving the market or becoming professional. He added: "The headline 43% sell-off figure isn't an outright landlord exodus – it is a massive, structural portfolio consolidation. We are witnessing the final squeeze of the casual, personally-owned landlord, driven out by the compounding pressures of the Renters’ Rights Act and high remortgage costs. However, the private rented sector isn’t collapsing; it is professionalising."
"The vital clue in the data is that 64% of those still buying are using Limited Companies. Sophisticated, corporate landlords aren’t panicking; they are sitting on capital, waiting to snap up discounted stock from exiting individual landlords. They know the structural rental shortage hasn't changed."
Tenants face fewer choices
Toby Quanstrom, director of Quanstrom Financial, said he expected rents to go up as landlords leave. He added: "Being a landlord used to be easy money. Those days are dead, and 43% of landlords have just admitted it. Higher rates, Section 24 and heavier regulation have turned a passive income into a proper job, rightly so, with a two point rise in tax on rental income to come in April 2027."
He noted: "We regularly meet landlords who break even at best once the mortgage, tax, maintenance and voids are paid, especially the highly leveraged. This is not a shock, it is the correction you would expect. The worry is for tenants: Zoopla reports 25% fewer homes to rent than before the pandemic, with 5.6 renters chasing every listing. If even half these sellers follow through, the pressure on rents could be relentless."
Mark Alexander, founder of Norwich-based Property118.com, said there would be less rental supply. He added: "This echoes our Q2 survey of 2,096 landlords: 67.7% expect to sell properties or leave the sector within three years, while only 9.5% plan to buy. That imbalance points to less rental supply and more pressure on rents."
Tony Sanchez, founder of Bridging Loan Directory, said it was more that landlords were reducing rather than expanding. He added: "43% sounds alarming, but planning to sell a property is not the same as leaving buy-to-let altogether. A landlord with seven properties may sell one that no longer works financially and retain the other six. Some planned sales will not happen either. Even so, only 6% intending to buy points to a market where far more landlords are considering reducing their exposure than expanding."
Jamie Elvin, director of London-based Strive Mortgages, said the numbers didn't stack up for many landlords. He added: "The 43% figure is concerning, but we should distinguish between landlords considering a sale and those who will actually leave the market. What it does show very clearly is a lack of confidence in the sector. Landlords have faced a sustained combination of higher mortgage costs, increased taxation and greater regulation, with the Renters’ Rights Act adding further uncertainty."
Stephen Perkins, managing director of Norwich-based Yellow Brick Mortgages, said the figures were concerning. He added: "There is an important difference between 43% of landlords planning to sell a property and 43% planning to leave the market altogether. With the average landlord in this survey owning more than seven properties, some will be pruning their portfolios rather than exiting completely."
Tracey Dixon, buy-to-let mortgage specialist and owner of Cardiff-based Pure Mortgage and Protection, said rising mortgage rates were making investments unviable. She added: "The 43% figure is an early warning rather than a forecast of completed sales. For many mortgaged landlords, the real decision will come when their current deal ends and they see the cost of refinancing."
Harry Goodliffe, director of Winchester-based HTG Mortgages, said it wasn't necessarily a crisis. He added: "Landlords heading for the exit in these numbers sounds like a crisis, but look at who's still buying, and it doesn't feel that way. Most of the ones actually buying are going through limited companies, professional landlords doubling down while the smaller, accidental ones call it a day."
He concluded: "Years of the Government piling on tax after tax, and now the Renters' Rights Act, have made owning one or two rentals more hassle than it's worth. But plenty of people love to rent: no mortgage, no maintenance, and every landlord who stays gets first pick. Expect the rental pool to shrink while good tenants queue for what's left."
