Millennials and Gen Z will represent 62% of landlords within a decade, according to new research, while ethnic minority representation will double to 23% and the number of female landlords will grow from 36% to 42%.

Rely points to a structural shift in the UK’s landlord population, where Baby Boomers and Generation X now account for 54% of landlords. Within a decade, that is forecast to fall to 37%, as Millennials rise to 44% of the market and Gen Z reaches 18% (up from 39% and 5%).

More than a third (36%) of aspiring next generation landlords expect to inherit property they can rent out, with a further 21% expecting to inherit capital they will use to purchase a rental property.

While they might enter the PRS with a smaller initial portfolio than the landlords they are replacing, they are set to build incrementally over time rather than acquire BTL properties quickly. Meanwhile, 50% of future landlords plan to pass their property to family when they eventually exit, up from 42% of today’s landlords.

Emerging

The emerging picture is of a buy-to-let client who is younger, more likely to have entered through inheritance, starting smaller and thinking longer, according to Jon Hall, group chief commercial officer at OSB Group, who believes the landlords entering the market over the next decade won’t necessarily look like the ones brokers have worked with over the last 20 years. “More will be coming into the sector through inheritance, many will start with smaller portfolios, and they’ll often be looking at property as a long-term family asset rather than simply an investment,” he explains.

NRLA

It follows research from the NRLA which found that 26% of landlords polled have sold or are currently selling at least some of their properties as a result of the Renters’ Rights Act, with a further 19% considering it.

The landlord body blames a perfect storm of legislative change, rising costs and press hostility that is forcing landlords out of the sector. Its latest Landlord Eye research report found single property landlords in particular are considering their future in the sector, with more than 60% saying they are no longer sure they will be landlords at all by the end of next year.

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