The average landlord portfolio has climbed to 7.3 properties and more than one in five landlords now describe themselves as full-time or self-employed, according to the latest Pegasus Insight Landlord Trends research.
The new data points to a further shift away from the image of the side-line landlord with one or two rentals. Pegasus said 21 percent of landlords now treat the role as full-time or self-employed work, up from 17 percent at the end of 2025, while limited company landlords hold an average 15.3 properties.
For landlords, that matters now because it shows the private rented sector is continuing to tilt towards larger, more structured operators at the same time as refinancing, tax change and compliance costs remain high. Smaller investors are not disappearing overnight, but the direction of travel is getting harder to ignore.
Portfolio landlords are pulling further ahead
Pegasus said the average portfolio has increased to 7.3 properties, with limited company landlords driving much of that change. Their average holding has risen from 12.8 properties at the end of 2025 to 15.3, and around two-thirds of those homes sit inside a company structure.
The research, run with the National Residential Landlords Association, said the results point to a market where more landlords are treating property as a business rather than an additional income stream. That matters because business-style operators are usually better placed to refinance, absorb compliance costs and reshape portfolios when policy changes hit.
It also changes what lenders and brokers need to offer. Larger landlords are more likely to have mixed portfolios, more complex ownership structures and a stronger need for refinancing options rather than simple one-off purchase loans.
Refinancing remains a key pressure point
The same research found around 40 percent of landlords expect to remortgage next year, rising to 56 percent among those with at least four buy-to-let mortgages. Portfolio landlords were nearly twice as likely as smaller landlords to be actively looking for refinancing opportunities.
That lines up with recent lender activity covered by Landlord Knowledge, including Foundation’s relaunch of a 3.99 percent landlord remortgage and Paragon’s £1,000 cashback offer across 21 landlord mortgages. Those product moves make more sense in a market where larger borrowers are staying active even if smaller landlords are slowing down.
This follows Landlord Knowledge’s May report on portfolio landlords driving the remortgage push, which found bigger borrowers were already dominating refinancing activity. The latest Pegasus figures suggest that trend has not stalled. If anything, landlord structure is shifting even more clearly towards operators with scale, company vehicles and a longer-term approach to borrowing.
There is a warning inside the headline. A more professional sector may look more resilient from a lender’s point of view, but it also risks leaving accidental or small-scale landlords at a sharper disadvantage. Those investors often have less bargaining power on finance, less room to absorb compliance costs and fewer options if they need to refinance quickly.
For tenants, the shift could mean a rental market run by fewer but larger operators. For landlords, it means the sector is becoming harder to treat as a passive sideline. The business model is getting more formal, more debt-heavy and more dependent on active debt management.
Pegasus describes Landlord Trends as a quarterly survey of private landlord attitudes run with the NRLA, giving lenders and sector businesses a regular read on portfolio size, sentiment and investment intentions.
What this means for landlords
- If you run a smaller portfolio: review whether your current finance setup is still competitive against borrowers with more scale.
- If you’re incorporated: expect lenders to keep tailoring more products towards limited company and specialist portfolio cases.
- Watch for: a wider gap in borrowing options between professional portfolio landlords and casual investors.
- If you’re remortgaging in 2026: prepare early, as more landlords are lining up refinancing rather than fresh purchases.
- Bottom line: the PRS is still moving towards larger, more business-like landlords, and finance products are following that shift.
Editor’s view
The sector’s professionalisation is no longer a talking point – it is showing up in portfolio size, company use and refinancing behaviour. That may suit lenders, but it also raises the bar for smaller landlords trying to stay competitive.
Author: Editorial Team – UK landlord & buy-to-let news, policy, and finance
Published: 8 July 2026
Sources: Pegasus Insight Landlord Trends research
Related reading: Portfolio landlords drive buy-to-let remortgage push
