Landlord sales have slowed significantly following the introduction of the Renters' Rights Act, according to new analysis from Hamptons. The share of homes listed for sale that were previously rented dropped to 9.2% nationally in June, down from 11.3% a year earlier and below the 2021-2022 peak.
June also marked the first time since 2019 that landlord purchases exceeded landlord sales, though a stark North/South investment divide remains. Landlords accounted for 10.2% of all purchases in June, while previously rented homes made up 9.2% of listings, meaning more landlords bought property than sold it for the first time in seven years.
Hamptons' analysis of Connells Group data shows the pace of landlord sales has slowed in recent months, following a spike in activity ahead of the Renters' Rights Act coming into force on 1 May 2026. This suggests that while the act may have prompted some landlords to sell, the larger wave of exits was driven by earlier tax changes and higher mortgage rates.
Three factors appear to be behind the recent slowdown in landlord sales:
- Many landlords have already left the market, having sold up in response to tax changes since 2016, higher interest rates from 2022 and the act itself.
- The cost of failing to sell has risen sharply, since landlords who serve a Ground 1A notice now face a mandatory 12-month ban on re-letting the property.
- A slower sales market has made landlords more cautious about serving notice to sell in the first place.
The number of rental homes in England has remained broadly unchanged at 4.8m over the past decade, while the total number of homes has grown by around 2.0m, with most of that extra stock going into owner occupation.
As of 1 May 2026, landlords who use a Ground 1A notice to regain possession in order to sell face that mandatory 12-month re-letting ban, even if they fail to find a buyer. Hamptons' analysis of homes listed for sale by landlords in 2025 found that 51% failed to sell, rising to 60% among flats. Had the new rules applied last year, an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 unsold rental homes would have been barred from returning to the market for 12 months.
Flats remain particularly exposed. They accounted for 51% of homes marketed by landlords last year, and 24.4% of flats marketed for sale in June had previously been rented, compared with just 7.8% of houses. Rising service charges appear to be making both investors and owner-occupiers more cautious towards flats. In June, the typical flat took almost a month longer to sell than a house, going under offer after 85 days against 59 days for a house.
This challenge is most acute in London and the South, where higher prices and lower yields continue to weigh on investor appetite. In London, one in five homes listed for sale in June, 20.3%, had previously been let within the last five years, more than double the 9.5% share recorded in the South East.
By contrast, the biggest year-on-year falls in landlord sales have come in Northern markets, where stronger yields mean buy-to-let returns remain more resilient and landlords are less exposed to the profit pressures weighing on Southern investors.
Rental growth on newly let homes has been edging up for six months. The average rent on a newly let home reached £1,392 per month in June, up 1.6% year-on-year and the strongest annual growth recorded for new lets in 13 months.
The recovery has been led by Northern markets, with the North East recording the strongest growth at 4.3%, taking average rents to £859 per month. Rental growth in Inner London continued to slow, falling from 1.6% in May to 0.4% in June, while Outer London returned to positive annual growth for the first time in 12 months, up 1.9%.
Across the whole rental market, including new lets and ongoing tenancies, rents rose 2.2% year-on-year, a broader measure that has also slowed as the earlier easing in new-let growth feeds through.
For existing tenants whose rent increased in June, the average uplift was 5.4%, broadly unchanged over the past 12 months, although fewer tenants are seeing rent rises than before the Renters' Rights Act came into force. Scotland recorded the largest increases among existing tenants at 8.0%, followed by the North of England and the Midlands.
"The Renters' Rights Act has been a long time coming, and most landlords who wanted to leave the sector because of it have probably already done so," said Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons.
"While the new rules may have encouraged some landlords to sell, the bigger shift has come from years of tax changes and higher mortgage costs, which have gradually reduced the number of landlords in the market.
"What's changed more recently is the balance of risk. A tougher sales market and the introduction of a 12-month re-letting ban mean selling has become a more complicated proposition for landlords. For many, the prospect of being left with an empty property that can't easily return to the rental market has made holding on to an investment look more attractive.
"For those landlords who have chosen to sit tight, there are signs that their decision may start to pay off. Yields have improved over the last couple of years as rents have risen faster than house prices, giving investors more headroom to absorb higher borrowing costs.
"At the same time, rental growth is picking up again, with rents on newly let homes rising at their fastest pace in more than a year. While challenges undoubtedly remain, conditions for landlords arguably look better than they did 12 months ago."
