A new report from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has found that England’s private rented sector remains dominated by small-scale landlords, despite larger commercial operators accounting for a disproportionate share of tenancies.
The findings, drawn from the 2024 English Private Landlord Survey and carried out by the National Centre for Social Research, segment landlords into six groups based on portfolio size, rental strategy and business approach.
Small landlords made up the overwhelming majority of the sample, with 45% owning a single property and a further 38% owning small portfolios.
The report identifies three small-scale landlord types, ranging from retired landlords supplementing pension income to short-term investors focused on rental returns or capital growth.
Together these groups represent more than 80% of landlords, but only around half of the tenancies in the sample.
The remaining landlord types included moderate-scale business and investor landlords at 4%, large-scale business landlords at 5%, and corporate landlords at 7%.
These landlords held substantially larger portfolios, deriving significant income from rent and often aligning their business decisions with market rates or cost recovery.
Three in five corporate and moderate-scale landlords raised rent at their most recent tenancy renewal, compared with less than half of small-scale retired landlords.
Larger landlords were also more likely to have identified damp or to hold properties below EPC band C, reflecting the scale and age of their portfolios.
The survey also highlighted differing risk management practices. Corporate landlords used deposit replacement schemes more often than other groups, though usage remained low across the sample.
Larger business landlords were more likely to request guarantors, while small-scale retired landlords were the most likely to ask for rent in advance.
Across all groups, most landlords were unwilling to let to tenants with a history of arrears, and between 69% and 80% expressed concerns about letting to tenants receiving housing support due to perceived payment risks.
Future intentions varied markedly. Corporate landlords were most likely to plan portfolio growth at 26%, while half of large-scale business landlords planned to reduce or exit the sector.
Tax and legislative changes were a key reason for planned reductions, cited by 81% of moderate-scale business and investor landlords and 78% of large-scale business landlords, but only 46% of small-scale retired landlords.
