Who are today’s landlords?
If you asked the general public who landlords are, no doubt you’d hear a lot of the old cliches. The assumption is that landlords tend to be older, male – and usually rolling in dough.
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But these days, it’s just not true! We broke down the Bank of England base rate and showed why we have moved away from a culture of saving to one of borrowing. With the interest rate so low, it makes more sense to borrow than to save, simple as that!
So more people than ever are looking to not only own their own home, but to invest in buy-to-lets for their future. As we all know, getting together a deposit and getting a mortgage is harder these days for a lot of young people, so we offer great advice whether you’re a first time buyer or looking for a buy-to-let.
But who are today’s landlords?
The Average Landlord
Age wise, we’ve seen a big dip. Back in 2016, the average age for a landlord was around 51-55 years old, but now, in 2021, almost half of landlords are 40 or under and only 26% are 51 and over.
This could be because older landlords have sold up and left the market. Many of the comments we get from our landlord community say that the changes in tax and legislation have pushed them to sell up and move on. This would bring the average age of landlords down.
Younger landlords are a lot more open to the opportunities that the internet and digitisation offer, so they are potentially happier to adapt to the changes. With access to resources like our webinars, it’s easier than ever to understand what is needed from landlords.
We also built our platform to offer everything that a modern landlord would use :
- Online advertising
- buy-to-let mortgages,
- legal certification (gas, EPC and EICR)
- insurances (from Home Emergency to Rent Guarantee).
As we see more digitisation on various platforms, including HMRC who will be making all tax digital by 2024, it’s likely that we’ll see more and more young landlords joining the community, as they are so at home with working online.
Younger landlords are also making the most of their rental income, with the youngest group, aged 18-30 generating an average of £25,481 per year. So it really is a young person’s game these days!
The gender split is also changing. Previously, landlords had been predominantly men, thanks to a much larger gender pay gap in previous decades and the fact that tradition dictated that women worked in the home. While the gender pay gap still exists, women’s wealth is increasing, so more women are becoming landlords.
As of 2021, around 48% of UK landlords are women, which has increased from 2020’s 47%. If this trend continues, we could see a welcome 50/50 split between male and female landlords in the years to come.
How do you become a landlord?
With interest rates on buy-to-lets some of the lowest they’ve been in years, a lot of young people are investing in properties, but continuing to rent their own homes. They then release equity to continue investing, rather than focusing on one residential property.
However, some landlords come into property by accident, rather than design. Some may inherit a property and decide to rent it out, rather than sell it. Others may find their circumstances changing – leaving their residential property to move in with their partner, for example – so rent out their home, now they’re no longer living in it.
Landlords who have fallen into it tend to look online for support. From joining online community groups for help and advice to using online platforms like Mashroom that make self-management a breeze, younger landlords are up-and-coming.
Are you one of them?
