Landlords are still selling roughly three rental properties for every one they buy, despite 58 percent reporting strong tenant demand, according to new NRLA-backed research published on 5 June.
The figures come from a Pegasus Insight poll cited by the National Residential Landlords Association, which said 21 percent of landlords sold property over the past year while just 7 percent bought. Demand was strongest in Wales and the North East, where 74 percent reported strong demand, and weakest in the South East and West Midlands at 51 percent.
For landlords, that matters because it points to a market where demand is not the problem. The squeeze is on confidence and supply. If landlords keep exiting faster than they reinvest, tenant competition is likely to stay intense even when headline data suggests stock is stabilising.
Demand is holding up, but supply decisions are moving the other way
NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle, chief executive of the NRLA, said the figures showed the market still lacked enough homes to rent, even where some datasets suggest supply has improved. He said long social housing waiting lists and the high cost of home ownership mean the private rented sector remains critical for many households.
Beadle said ministers should focus on keeping responsible landlords in the market rather than raising costs, warning that weaker confidence would feed back into rents and choice. His intervention comes ahead of the government’s planned increase in income tax on rental income from next year, a measure the NRLA argues risks pushing more landlords to sell.
The numbers support that warning. A market can show strong tenant demand and still look fragile for investors if the policy direction keeps making new purchases less attractive than disposals.
This follows Landlord Knowledge’s report on six in ten tenants renting for longer than planned, which pointed to demand being sustained by blocked home ownership rather than short-term market churn. Combined with earlier Landlord Knowledge coverage of children becoming more likely than adults to live in private rentals, the latest NRLA figures suggest the sector is carrying a longer-term housing burden while landlord appetite to expand remains weak.
Regional demand remains strong where affordability pressure is highest
The NRLA said Wales and the North East posted the highest share of landlords reporting strong demand, both at 74 percent. Those are also areas where affordability pressures and limited alternatives to renting can be acute, especially for households priced out of buying.
That aligns with the Resolution Foundation’s Housing Outlook Q2 2026, which warned that stretched affordability and long social housing waiting lists mean demand for rented homes is likely to remain buoyant. In practice, that leaves landlords in a market where demand is resilient, but business confidence is being shaped by tax, regulation and future compliance costs rather than by a lack of tenants.
There is also a more awkward signal here for ministers. Strong demand does not automatically mean the market is healthy. If households are renting for longer because buying is unaffordable and social housing is out of reach, landlords may see occupancy stay firm while political pressure on rents and standards rises at the same time.
What this means for landlords
- If you’re weighing a purchase: demand still looks strong, but policy risk may matter more than occupancy risk when judging whether a deal stacks up.
- Watch for: whether the 3:1 sell-to-buy gap narrows once the market adjusts to post-Renters’ Rights Act trading and 2027 tax changes become clearer.
- For landlords in Wales and the North East: stronger tenant demand may support rents and lower voids, but it can also bring sharper affordability pressure and political scrutiny.
- Bottom line: tenant demand is holding up, yet supply will stay tight if landlords keep selling faster than they reinvest.
Editor’s view
These figures matter less because they show tenants still want homes, and more because they show landlords are not responding by expanding supply. A rental market can stay busy for all the wrong reasons, and that is where policy risk starts to build fastest.
Author: Editorial Team – UK landlord & buy-to-let news, policy, and finance
Published: 8 June 2026
Sources: National Residential Landlords Association, Pegasus Insight, Resolution Foundation
Related reading: LRG: six in ten tenants are renting for longer than planned
