Some 50% of tenants who moved last year did so because their landlords decided to sell the property. 

By contrast, eviction was cited by just 11.3% of those surveyed.

The survey – by PropTech company PayProp  – found that more than 54.5% of landlords were in the process of selling properties last year at the time of the survey. 

PayProp UK managing director Neil Cobbold says: “We know from our survey that the majority of homes sold by landlords (66.7%) are purchased by first time buyers. So, every time a landlord puts a house up for sale, it will generally be permanently lost to the Private Rented Sector.

“These buyers are generally also the more well-off tenants who are best equipped to deal with the steep PRS price increases we are seeing. That loss of stock and well-financed tenants puts the PRS under pressure, with fewer homes to rent and lots of pent-up demand from less well-off tenants, which in turn can lead to higher rental prices as they compete for the remaining properties.”

The PayProp survey also explores why landlords are selling in such high numbers. 

Reasons include older landlords, many of whom are considering retirement, combined with diminishing profits due to tax and mortgage rate changes, and increased regulations. 

These pressures are highlighted amid the backdrop of significant legislative changes, such as the proposed abolition of Section 21 evictions and the introduction of more stringent regulations under the Renters Reform Bill under discussion in the House of Lords 

Cobbold also reveals that there was also a significant drop in very negative sentiment about the current state of the industry (down 13.1% on 2022), perhaps because of the amendments to address the Renters Reform Bill’s perceived imbalance between the rights of the tenant and those of the landlord to gain repossession of their property.

The largest group expressed a ‘neutral’ view (46.8%). However, 51.6% felt either positive or very positive about the rental industry’s prospects.

Even so, fewer respondents could see themselves working in the sector in five years’ time with 12.9% saying it was ‘unlikely’ or ‘very unlikely’.