Fresh data from TwentyCi suggests the long-running sell-off of buy-to-let property may finally be easing. In Q1 2026, 12.4% of homes coming to market had previously been rented, down sharply from 22.5% in Q1 2025. London saw the biggest drop, with the proportion falling by 51%.
That sounds encouraging on the face of it, but there is still a sting in the tail for the lettings market. The same data indicates that once these former rental properties are sold, very few are returning to the sector. Only 6% of those sold outside London were later re-let, rising to 11% in the capital. In other words, a large number appear to be ending up in owner-occupier hands rather than being snapped up by other landlords.
TwentyCi’s wider Q1 2026 report shows the sales market itself has remained fairly steady. New listings were up 5% year on year, while transactions were 3.9% lower than Q1 2025, although still ahead of both 2023 and 2024 once last year’s stamp duty distortion is taken into account. Colin Bradshaw said the market was still “ticking along nicely”, despite some cooling in London and the South East as fixed mortgage rates moved back above 5%.
For landlords and tenants alike, the message is fairly clear: the pace of landlord exits may be slowing, but the supply of rental homes remains under pressure.
