Research: What drives landlords' portfolio decisions?

As part of the NRLA’s Quarter 2 survey, landlords were asked which reasons were most important to them when deciding to adjust their property portfolio. Also, I'd flip it round

When it came to investing in property the reasons for doing so were diverse.

Of those landlords adding to their portfolio the top three reasons were; local property market conditions, family reasons and economic expectations, something that reflects a growing optimism when it comes to the property market. 

At the other end of the scale regulation changes were the biggest reasons for landlords putting property onto the market, followed by increasing costs and tax changes.

Indeed recent research by the NRLA showed that the number of statutory provisions applying to the sector in England will have risen by 40 per cent over the last decade to 168 pieces of legislation.

More than half landlords who have sold properties (54.1%) cited regulation as a reason, compared with just 7% of landlords who have bought properties. 

The two biggest regulatory changes cited by this group as affecting their decisions were the forthcoming changes to Section 21, promised by the Government as part of its Renters' Reform Bill and the restrictions on regaining possession introduced over the last year in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Landlords selling cited Mortgage Interest Relief as the single most influential tax change when it came to selling.