Two sets of figures released this morning by Hamptons raise a red flag about buy to let.
A big slump in the purchase of buy to lets
Firstly Hamptons says just 10.9% of properties sold in Britain last year were bought by landlords.
This is down from 12.0% in 2024 and well below the 15.8% recorded in 2015.
This marks the lowest share of landlord purchases in a year since Hamptons recorded the activity in 2012.
It’s also the first time it has fallen below 11.0% over a full calendar year.
The decline comes during the first full year in which landlords paid the higher 5% stamp duty surcharge.
The North East remained the most investor-heavy region. Landlords accounted for 29.0% of purchases in the North East. Next was the East Midlands (15.1%) and West Midlands (15.0%).
Rents fall on an annual basis across Britain
Secondly, Hamptons says the typical rent of a newly agreed let dipped 0.7% across Britain in 2025 – the first time since the agency’s records began in 2011.
By the end of 2025, five of the 11 regions in Great Britain recorded falling rents, up from none at the end of 2024.
While newly agreed rents have dipped year-on-year in individual months before, 2025 marked the first time they fell across a full calendar year since the Hamptons Lettings Index was launched 15 years ago
So right now the average tenant moving into a property pays £1,371 per month, £10 a month less than last year for the same home.
London recorded the largest falls in newly agreed rents, down 2.7% (or £63 pcm) over 2025, taking rents back to June 2023 levels.
However, by December, rents were also falling in the South East (-1.0%), the East Midlands (-0.2%), Yorkshire & Humber (-1.4%) and in Wales (-0.8%).
Three further regions – East of England (0.5%), South West (0.7%) and Scotland (0.5%) – saw growth below 1.0% in 2025.
Their current trajectory suggests that these regions could tip into recording falls in early 2026.
Stock levels ended the year 6% higher than in December 2024.
Recently Hamptons reported that some vendors in London are selling for less than they purchased properties a whole decade ago.
