"Millennials, many of whom have struggled to buy their own home, are now leading the charge in buy-to-let"
- Aneisha Beveridge - Hamptons
The proportion of homes purchased by landlords has held steady year-on-year, even as stamp duty costs have increased. Millennial investors are driving this resilience, accounting for half of all new shareholders in buy-to-let limited companies established so far in 2025.
According to Hamptons’ analysis of Companies House data, Millennials are expected to create 33,395 new buy-to-let companies in 2025, more than double (+142%) the number registered in 2020. Around 75% of shareholders in these new companies are aged under 50, compared with 68% a decade ago.
Investor activity has shifted northwards, with the North East leading landlord purchases at 28.4% of all homes sold in Q3 2025, compared with 8.0% in London. Meanwhile, the average rent for a newly let home in Great Britain fell by 0.3% over the year to September 2025, a drop of £4 per month.
A generational shift in landlord demographics
Despite facing affordability barriers, Millennials, those born between 1981 and 1996, are emerging as the dominant force in buy-to-let investment. For the first time, they make up half of all new shareholders in buy-to-let companies across England and Wales, marking a generational change in property investment.
Hamptons’ review of Connells' data shows that the proportion of homes bought by landlords across England and Wales remained unchanged from last year, despite the rise in the second home stamp duty surcharge. Landlords now pay a 5% SDLT surcharge, up from 3% before 1 April 2025. Nationally, they accounted for 11.3% of purchases in Q3 2025, slightly above the 11.2% recorded in Q3 2024.
Investor purchases are increasingly concentrated outside the South of England. London, the South East, South West and East of England together represented just 34% of investor purchases in Q3 2025, compared with 50% in 2016.
In London, landlords bought 8.0% of homes sold in Q3 2025, the lowest level since Q3 2020. Similar trends were seen in the South West (8.1%) and East of England (8.2%), where over half of branches (52%) sold no homes to landlords during the quarter.
By contrast, the North East remains the country’s strongest investor market, where landlords made up 28.4% of purchases in Q3 2025, more than three times London’s share. The region has consistently exceeded a 20% investor share in nine of the past ten years, supported by lower property prices, reduced stamp duty impact, and higher yields.
Millennials lead buy-to-let incorporations
Millennials are now the driving force behind new company formations in the sector. Based on current trends, they are expected to create a record 33,395 buy-to-let companies in 2025, marking a 142% increase from 2020.
Five years ago, Millennials represented 40% of new buy-to-let shareholders. They have outpaced Baby Boomers (born 1946–1964) since 2017 and overtook Generation X (born 1965–1980) in 2022.
Behind Millennials, Gen X accounts for 33% of new shareholders this year, followed by Gen Z with 10% and Baby Boomers with just 7%. The decline in Baby Boomer participation reflects their shifting priorities, with many choosing to scale back or pass on portfolios rather than expand them.
Gen Z investors, currently aged between 13 and 28, have overtaken Baby Boomers (aged 61 to 79) in company incorporations for the first time this year. In total, three-quarters of shareholders in new buy-to-let companies are under 50, compared with 68% ten years ago.
Rental trends show slowing growth
The average rent for a newly let home in Great Britain decreased by 0.3% in the year to September 2025, falling from £1,402 to £1,398 per month. This contrasts with the 4.2% annual growth recorded the previous year.
London was the primary driver of the slowdown, where rents dropped by 2.7% or £65 per month. In Inner London, the decline was sharper at 4.6%, bringing the average rent to £2,766 pcm—£165 below the October 2024 peak.
Renewal rents, however, continued to rise, increasing by 4.6% over the past 12 months and pushing the average renewal rent to £1,307 per month. Although growth has moderated from the 6.6% rise recorded a year earlier, renewal rents have grown more than twice as fast as those for new lets over the past two years (11.5% vs 4.3%).
Renewal rents surpassed £1,200 in April 2024, £1,100 in January 2023, and £1,000 in April 2021, having first exceeded £900 pcm in March 2012.
Market adapting to challenges
“Landlord purchases haven’t collapsed in the face of higher taxes and tighter regulation, but they have shifted,” said Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons. “New landlords have increasingly become an endangered species in markets across Southern England, where big stamp duty bills and flatlining prices have nudged investors northwards. But in places like the North East, landlord activity remains close to all-time highs, showing that the buy-to-let market is adapting rather than retreating.
“What’s striking is the rise of younger landlords,” Beveridge continued. “Millennials, many of whom have struggled to buy their own home, are now leading the charge in buy-to-let. Thirty years on from the invention of the buy-to-let mortgage, which kick-started investment by Baby Boomers, it’s clear that a new generation is finding alternative ways to build wealth through bricks and mortar. Despite the challenges, Millennials and Gen Z are showing a similar appetite for long-term property investment, which is helping to stabilise the market.
“Rental growth remained negative in September, with tenants finding they have more room to negotiate than they’ve had during the last five years. While lower rents are always welcome news for tenants, there are still too many cost pressures facing landlords for a nominal fall in rents to turn into a more meaningful correction in the months ahead.”
