Key insights from the 2024 English Private Landlord Survey

The 2024 English Private Landlord Survey (EPLS) was published on 5 December 2024. It was commissioned by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), and is “uniquely valuable in providing a large scale, representative picture of private landlords”.

Here is a summary of the key insights from the EPLS.

The profile of private landlords

The profile of private landlords has changed since 2021:

• 50% of landlords are now women, compared to 45% in 2021
• 83% of landlords own between 1 to 4 properties (myself included), and these amount to 51% of tenancies.
• 45% of landlords own one rental property, and these are 21% of tenancies
• 17% of landlords representing 49% of tenancies have five or more properties, and they are more likely to be male (63%)
• 87% of individual landlords identified as white, 8% Asian, 2% mixed, 2% black and the remaining 1% as other
• The median age is 59 years old, and 64% of landlords were aged 55 or older. This is similar to the 2021 survey (63%).

What proportion of landlords use letting agents?

According to the 2024 EPLS, 52% of landlords surveyed said they self-manage and do not use an agent ot let or manage their properties. This is a little more than in 2021 (49%). 43% of landlords said they used agents to find tenants, and 18% said they used agents for property management.

However, these figures are likely to over-estimate the number of landlords who self-manage as the sample is taken from landlords who register a deposit themselves. This is because the figures don’t include the answers from landlords who used who used an agent to register their deposit, and these landlords are more likely to be the ones who use letting agents.

The EPLS recognises this and says that the figures “may under-represent the use of agents”.

How do landlords fund their buy to lets?

According to the EPLS, 41% of landlords own their properties outright, with no borrowing of any kind on any of their properties.

For the 59% of landlords who do have some sort of borrowing on their properties, the median loan to value ratio is 52%. Single property landlords have a higher median loan to value ratio (58%) compared with median loan to value ratios of 45-46% for those with two or more properties.

What type of properties do landlords let to renters?

Terraced houses are the most popular choice for landlords. Here is the breakdown of the types of rental properties in England.

• Terraced properties – 44%
• Purpose-built flats – 39%
• Semi-detached houses – 31%
• Converted flats – 21%
• Detached houses – 12%
• Bedsits, rooms or flatlets – 5%

Note that the numbers add up to more than 100% as landlords may have more than one type of property.

Do landlords invest locally?

Yes. Most landlords have rental properties in the same region in which they live. This ranges from 86% of landlords in the West Midlands who have rental properties in the West Midlands, to 78% of landlords in London who also have their rental properties in London.

For those London landlords who don’t invest in London, they invest nearby. The next most popular region is the South East (12%), followed by 9% in the East of England. Only 3% of London landlords invest in the North East, where yields are higher, properties are cheaper, but rents are lower.

How many landlords have rent arrears?

The overwhelming majority of landlords (80%) have not had any rent arrears in the last two years. This increases to 91% for those landlords who have one property.

However, landlords with five or more properties are more likely to have arrears, with 49% of their tenants being in rent arrears.

How many landlords increase rent?

The 2024 English Private Landlord Survey says that between 52-58% of the landlords surveyed increase rent, as follows:

• New tenancies. 58% increased the rent in their most recent new tenancy, with 25% keeping the rent the same. 3% decreased the rent. The proportion of those increasing rent for new tenancies has gone up since 2018 (42%) or 2021 (45%), when inflation was lower. The median increase was 11%, with 35% increasing it by at least 15%.
• Existing tenancies. Slightly fewer landlords (52%) said they increased the rent for existing tenants, with 39% keeping the rent the same and 1% decreasing the rent. In 2021, 26% increased the rent and 22% in 2018, both years of low inflation. The median change for in-tenancy increases was 8%, with 20% of these landlords increasing rents by at least 15%.

For what reasons do landlords end tenancies?

With all the commentary from tenant groups about landlords ending tenancies “for no reason” or for “arbitrary” reasons, the English Private Landlord Survey found the following reasons for landlords ending tenancies:

• The property was not cared for – 43%
• The tenant was in rent arrears – 42%
• The tenant had engaged in anti-social behaviour – 27%
• The landlord wanted to sell the property – 26%
• They wanted to let the property for a higher rent – 9%

The percentages add up to more than 100% as landlords often have more than one reason.

How many landlords use Section 21 versus Section 8 to end tenancies?

According to the 2024 English Private Landlord Survey, Section 21 was (unsurprisingly, due to its ease), the overwhelming choice of landlords, with 70% using Section 21 over Section 8. This is unchanged from 2021.

When the Renters’ Rights Bill comes into effect, landlords will be able to use Section 8 for all of the reasons above, other than wanting to let for a higher rent.

For what reasons do landlords not return the whole deposit?

Although the majority of landlords do return the deposit in full (59%), of the 22% who kept some of the deposit and the 15% who did not return any of the deposit, these were the most common reasons:

• Damage to the property or contents – 63%
• To clean the property for the next tenant – 59%
• Unpaid rent – 31%

11% of landlords said the deposit was not enough cover all of the costs.

5% of landlords use a deposit replacement scheme and not a traditional deposit.

Tenant selection – for what reasons are landlords unwilling to let?

According to the English Private Landlord Survey, the following percentage of landlords said they wouldn’t let to applicants with the following characteristics:

• A history of rent arrears – 90%
• County court judgements (CCJs) awarded against them – 78%
• Requiring adaptations to the property – 47%
• Students – 45%
• Receiving housing support, including Universal Credit – 38%
• Those with dependent children – 13%

Only 5% of landlords are prepared to let to all types of tenants.

When the Renters’ Rights Act comes into force, it will be illegal to refuse to let to applicants who are in receipt of benefits or who will have children living at or visiting the property, unless the person does not meet affordability criteria, or there is a good reason (eg overcrowding).

The percentage of landlords aware of different provisions in the Renters’ Rights Bill

The 2024 English Private Landlord Survey revealed a very low awareness of the detail in the Renters’ Rights Bill (or at least what was due to be in the Renters (Reform) Bill), other than changes to the way in which they can evict tenants and tenants’ right to request a pet.

This may not be as surprising as it seems given that only 9% of landlords had attended a landlord forum or training in the last year.

Here is a table showing the percentage of the landlords surveyed who are “aware of” each of the key changes, and the converse, together with those who “understand” the changes:

>> Related Post: The 12 key provisions in the Renters’ Rights Bill

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