New figures from property management and finance platform Lendlord reveal that company ownership now accounts for 45.1% of buy-to-let properties, compared to 54.9% held privately. This indicates that nearly half of the buy-to-let market is structured through companies.
The data also shows a significant shift in ownership models as portfolio sizes increase. For landlords with 20 or more properties, company ownership reaches 57.6%. Company ownership becomes the majority for portfolios of 11 to 20 properties for the first time.
Aviram Shahar, co-founder and chief executive of Lendlord, noted that company ownership is no longer a niche structure. He highlighted that while 45.1% of buy-to-let ownership is in companies, this figure is higher for larger portfolios, where it is the majority model. Shahar also stated that smaller landlords tend to hold properties in their own name.
Geographically, the North East leads with the highest proportion of company ownership at 53.5%. Companies also hold a larger share of buy-to-let properties in Yorkshire and Humberside, and Scotland.