Analysis by estate agents, Hamptons, reveals that this younger generation now represents a record 50% of shareholders in new buy-to-let limited companies established during 2025, marking the first time this age group has reached such a level of dominance. Based on current trends, an estimated 33,395 new buy-to-let companies will be set up by these investors this year, more than double the 2020 figure.<\/p>\n
The shift represents a generational changing of the guard in property investment. Five years ago, this same demographic accounted for just 40% of new buy-to-let shareholders, while shareholders under 50 now comprise 75% of new company formations, up from 68% a decade ago.<\/p>\n
In contrast, Baby Boomers, who are now in their 60s and 70s, are increasingly winding down their portfolios rather than establishing new investments, with Generation Z incorporations overtaking them for the first time this year.<\/p>\n
There have also been some significant geographical shifts. Nationally, landlords accounted for 11.3% of home purchases during the third quarter of 2025, virtually unchanged from 11.2% in the same period last year, despite the stamp duty surcharge increasing from 3% to 5%.<\/p>\n
However, investor activity is increasingly concentrated outside of southern England. London, the South East, South West and East of England together accounted for just 34% of investor purchases in the third quarter, compared to the 50% that was recorded as recently as 2016.<\/p>\n
In London, landlords bought only 8.0% of homes sold during the third quarter\u2014the lowest figure since the third quarter of 2020. Similar patterns have emerged in the South West at 8.1% and the East of England at 8.2%.<\/p>\n
The North East currently has the strongest investor market, where landlords accounted for 28.4% of purchases during the third quarter, which is more than triple London’s rate. And it has exceeded 20% in nine of the last 10 years, as a result of lower property prices that are partially offsetting stamp duty impacts alongside higher yields.<\/p>\n
At the same time as these changes are occurring, average rents for newly let homes fell 0.3% over the year to September 2025, dropping \u00a34 per month from \u00a31,402 to \u00a31,398. This is in stark contrast to the 4.2% annual growth recorded 12 months earlier.<\/p>\n
London drove the slowdown, with rents falling 2.7% or \u00a365 per month. Inner London experienced a steeper 4.6% decline, bringing average rents to \u00a32,766 per month\u2014\u00a3165 below the October 2024 peak.<\/p>\n
However, it\u2019s a completely different story for existing tenancies, whose rents were up by 4.6% over the past year to \u00a31,307 per month and surpassing the \u00a31,300 mark for the first time.<\/p>\n
Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, says the data demonstrates how regulatory changes and tax pressures are reshaping landlord activity rather than eliminating it.<\/p>\n
And from a geographical perspective, the current market favours regions where property prices remain accessible and rental demand stays robust, especially in the Midlands and the North.<\/p>\n
If you’re looking for a property investment opportunity, all you need to do is get in touch with us here at BuyAssociation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Despite higher stamp duty costs and tighter regulations, a new generation of property investors is transforming Britain’s rental market, with those born between 1981 and 1996 now accounting for half of all new buy-to-let company formations. Analysis by estate agents, Hamptons, reveals that this younger generation now represents a record 50% of shareholders in new… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4233,"featured_media":6093016,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4,765,59],"tags":[82],"class_list":["post-6106625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buy-to-let-landlords","category-investment","category-property-investment","category-trending-news","tag-millennials"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6106625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4233"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6106625"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6106625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6106627,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6106625\/revisions\/6106627"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6093016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6106625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6106625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6106625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}