One in five buy-to-let companies incorporated in the UK this year has at least one non-UK national shareholder, according to research by Hamptons.
The share of international ownership has risen steadily over the past decade, climbing from 13% in 2016 to 20% in 2025.
BEYOND THE CAPITAL
While London remains the centre of overseas ownership – with 27% of new buy-to-let firms in the capital owned by non-UK nationals – the most rapid growth has taken place outside the capital. In the East Midlands, West Midlands and Scotland, the proportion of new landlords from overseas has more than doubled since 2016.
Indian nationals have been the largest single group of non-UK shareholders since 2023, setting up 684 new buy-to-let companies in the first half of this year, with more registered in Hillingdon than in any other local authority. Nigerians have ranked second since 2023, creating 647 companies in the first six months of 2025, followed by Poles and Irish nationals.
LANDLORD PROFILE
The profile of international landlords has shifted since Brexit. In 2016, 65% of non-UK shareholders came from the EU, but that share has now fallen to 49%. There has also been a decline in investors from the Anglosphere, with Irish nationals the only group still in the top ten. In contrast, ownership from South Asia and parts of Africa has grown sharply, alongside gains for Eastern European countries such as Poland and Romania.
Hamptons projects that 67,000 buy-to-let companies will be incorporated in 2025, surpassing last year’s record, with around 13,500 involving overseas shareholders. The majority of these companies have multiple shareholders, and in most cases those shareholders share the same nationality.
Overseas ownership remains most concentrated in certain pockets of the country. More than half of buy-to-let companies formed in Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham this year have non-UK shareholders, while Runnymede in Surrey recorded the highest proportion nationwide at 59%.
RENTAL MARKET SNAPSHOT
Alongside this surge in incorporations, the rental market has shown signs of cooling. The average rent on a newly let property in Great Britain fell by 0.2% in July compared with a year earlier – the first annual decline since August 2020. London recorded the steepest drop, down 3%, marking its seventh consecutive monthly fall.
Despite the slowdown in new lets, rents on renewed tenancies continued to rise, up 4.5% year-on-year in July. The gap between the average rent on a new let (£1,373) and a renewal (£1,290) is now just £83 – the smallest in four years.
Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, said the shift in landlord nationality reflects changing migration trends. “The London market has long been an international one, but demand from non-UK nationals has steadily been shifting into lower value markets outside the capital, where the bulk of growth in both house prices and rents has been seen in recent years,” she said.
“After five years of relentless rent rises, the market has paused for breath. Rents on new lets have dipped for the first time since 2020, as falling mortgage rates and a cooling economy ease pressure on the market.
“But for sitting tenants, the story is different. Renewal rents continue to climb, with landlords keen to keep pace with inflation and close the gap with market rates.”
