Buy-to-let investors are taking advantage of a cooling housing market, using chain-free status and cash reserves to push for steep price reductions on acquisitions, according to new analysis from Hamptons based on Connells Group data.
Landlords accounted for 14.1% of all home purchases in Great Britain in July 2026, up from the 12.4% year-to-date average. Investor activity tends to pick up in slower markets as overall buyer demand cools and motivated sellers become more willing to negotiate.
Investors push harder for discounts
The average landlord paid 88.7% of the initial asking price in July. More than half (56%) of investor offers that month came in at least 10% below the seller's initial asking price, the highest proportion since the first Covid lockdown in April 2020, and up from 48% in June 2026 and 45% in July 2025.
Cash-backed landlords negotiated even harder: 63% of offers from investors buying without a mortgage in England and Wales came in at least 10% under the initial asking price.
Owner-occupiers were considerably less aggressive. Only 25% of first-time buyer offers, and 27% of home mover offers came in at more than 10% below the first asking price. Owner-occupiers are typically more reliant on mortgage finance and more likely to be part of a chain, which limits their negotiating position.
Acceptance rates climb
Sellers are increasingly willing to accept these lower offers. In July, 27% of investor offers at 10% or more below the initial asking price were accepted, up from 18% in July 2025.
Flat owners are leading the trend. Sellers of leasehold properties accepted 41% of discounted offers in the month, reflecting continued price weakness and limited demand in the apartment market.
The length of time a property has spent on the market correlates closely with the likelihood of acceptance:
- 45 days: average time on market before an offer within 10% of the asking price from an investor was accepted.
- 109 days: average time on market before an offer 10% or more below the asking price was rejected.
- 140 days: average time on market before a lowball offer was accepted, with many of those properties having already undergone prior price reductions.
Southern England leads on opportunistic offers
The prevalence of deep discounting was highest in Southern England outside London. The South East recorded the largest share of opportunistic offers nationally, with 70% of investor bids coming in at least 10% below the first asking price. The South West followed at 60%.
Many of those offers were turned down, however. In the South East, bids of 10% or more below the asking price accounted for 54% of accepted deals; in the South West, 44%. By contrast, offers at that level accounted for just 32% of agreed deals in the North East, and 16% in London, where sellers remained least likely to accept a lower bid despite a tough market.
Rental growth accelerates
Rental growth for new lets in Great Britain continued to climb in July, reaching 1.9% year-on-year and taking the average rent above £1,401 per month. That marks the fastest pace of rental growth for new lets in 19 months and the eighth consecutive month in which the rate has risen.
The pickup has been driven primarily by Southern England, where newly agreed rents are now rising faster than in any other part of the country after lagging behind in previous months. Newly agreed lets in Outer London have returned above £2,000 per month, having fallen below that level in early 2025, while new lets in the South East passed £1,500 per month for the first time in July.
Annual rental growth across all tenancies, including both new lets and ongoing agreements, edged down from 2.2% in June to 2.1% in July. The average tenant in Great Britain is paying £1,258 per month, compared with £1,401 for someone moving home.
The average size of a rent increase, where one takes place, rose to 5.6% from 5.5% the previous month and 5.1% earlier in the year. Scotland continues to record the largest increases of any region in Great Britain, at 7.7%.
"When the market slows, seasoned investors rarely stand on the sidelines for long," said David Fell, lead analyst at Hamptons.
"With homes taking longer to sell and chains proving fragile, landlords are using their liquidity and chain-free status to maximise their leverage when it comes to agreeing a price. In a market where certainty has become more valuable, these benefits tend to be worth more than in hotter markets where sellers often have multiple options on the table.
"At the same time, sellers who have been on the market for several months are becoming more pragmatic. This is particularly true for flat owners, where demand remains weaker than for houses, or for those selling in the South of England more generally. While higher borrowing costs continue to weigh on investment returns, landlords with cash or low levels of borrowing are finding that a slower market is creating opportunities to purchase at significantly lower prices than would have been possible a few years ago.
"The rate of rental growth for newly let homes has continued to accelerate in July. While growth is still running below inflation, July still marked the eighth straight month in which the pace of rental growth has risen. Although these hikes may not be as large as in previous peak years, for landlords, the re-emergence of an upward trajectory in rents provides a counterweight to higher borrowing costs."
