Limited company landlords are owning an average of three times more properties than their individual counterparts, research from Pegasus Insight has revealed.
In a survey of 837 landlords in December and January, Pegasus found that the former hold an average of 15.9 properties while the latter usually own around 4.9.
Limited company ownership in of itself has also surged, with 21% of landlords now holding at least one property within such a structure.
The divergence between landlords owning properties in their own name and via a limited company structure also extends between scale and finance.
Pegasus’s research shows that limited company landlords are twice as likely to own houses in HMOs, with 35% holding at least one HMO compared with 17% of individual landlords.
Behavioural differences are also increasingly evident. Three quarters of limited company landlords increased rents in the past year, compared with 61% of individual landlords, suggesting greater responsiveness to market conditions and cost pressures.
“For lenders and policymakers, this is important, as it shows the PRS is no longer a single, uniform market,” said Mark Long, founder and managing director at Pegasus Insight (pictured above).
“Ownership structure is becoming an increasingly important lens through which to understand landlord behaviour, resilience and even future supply.”
