About 700 former rental homes a day are being listed for sale across Britain, according to new Savills analysis, adding to evidence that landlords are still shrinking the private rented sector even after years of rising tenant demand.
The property adviser said its review of listings data and HM Land Registry sales shows landlords sold 5.4 homes to owner-occupiers for every one bought from them in 2024. Across the period from April 2021 to October 2024, Savills estimates 290,000 rental properties were sold out of the sector.
Landlord sales are still outpacing purchases
For landlords, the immediate point is not just that sales remain elevated, but that replacement buying is not keeping up. Savills said the ratio of sales to purchases has moved sharply against the private landlord model since 2021, when the market was closer to one home sold for each one bought.
The firm links that shift to higher borrowing costs, weaker tax treatment for mortgaged landlords and the extra stamp duty burden on additional properties. It also points to a changing landlord base, with older owners more likely to cash in long-held gains and larger portfolio operators increasingly using company structures to keep buying.
That split matters for supply. Smaller landlords are selling houses and flats into the owner-occupier market, while newer institutional supply is arriving too slowly to fill the gap. Savills said build-to-rent delivery has added around 50,000 homes since the 2021 Census, well short of the number leaving the traditional buy-to-let sector over the same stretch.
Rental supply pressure is shifting, not easing
Savills argues the effect is now being felt most sharply in suburban markets, where family houses have been harder to replace than urban flats. That is a practical warning for landlords weighing disposals: reduced competition in some local rental pockets may support rents, but it also leaves remaining investors operating in a tighter and more politically exposed market.
This follows Landlord Knowledge’s April report on landlord exit rates before the Renters’ Rights Act deadline, which found the share of homes sold by landlords had started to ease from late-2024 highs. The latest Savills figures suggest the broader loss of rental stock is still running well ahead of any recovery in landlord buying.
That picture also fits with earlier Landlord Knowledge coverage of warnings that England’s private rented sector could lose 220,000 households this year. Savills is more cautious on timing, but the direction is much the same: stock is leaking out faster than new supply is coming in.
In its latest private rented sector analysis, Savills said the market is being reshaped rather than stabilised. The result for landlords is a sector with fewer small owners, more concentration among larger operators, and continued pressure on tenants competing for the homes that remain.
What this means for landlords
- If you’re planning to sell: Savills’ data suggests many landlords are still taking the same route, so local supply for sale may build quickly in areas with heavy investor ownership.
- If you’re holding stock: tighter rental supply may keep rents supported, especially for suburban family homes where replacement supply is weaker.
- Watch for: whether lower mortgage rates later this year are enough to bring private landlords back in as buyers, not just reduce the pace of exits.
- Bottom line: the private rented sector is still losing more homes than it is gaining from traditional buy-to-let investors.
Editor’s view
Landlords have heard a lot about supply shortages, but the Savills figures put a harder number on the problem. The key issue is no longer whether some landlords are leaving – it is whether anyone is replacing them fast enough in the parts of the market tenants actually need.
Author: Editorial Team – UK landlord & buy-to-let news, policy, and finance
Published: 4 May 2026
Sources: Savills, HM Land Registry
Related reading: Landlord sell-off share falls as RRA deadline arrives
