Almost 835,000 rental homes have left the private rented sector over the past decade, according to TwentyCi, with the data showing that roughly one in six homes previously let to tenants has been lost from the market.
The fresh Q2 2026 report also shows the heaviest run of former rental sales came in 2025, when almost 181,000 ex-rental properties were sold, even though advertised rental supply has risen this year to its highest point for seven years.
For landlords, the split matters now because rising stock on portals does not necessarily mean the traditional private rented sector is recovering. TwentyCi’s figures suggest more supply is being propped up by build-to-rent operators while smaller private landlords continue to leave.
Build-to-rent masks landlord stock loss
TwentyCi said build-to-rent listings were up 22% year on year in Q2 2026, helping to explain why available rental stock has increased even as landlord-owned supply has thinned out. The consultancy said 834,800 landlord-owned homes have gone from the sector over 10 years, while June 2026 still recorded the first annual increase in available rental stock for five years.
Colin Bradshaw, chief executive of TwentyCi, said the rental market offered “a glimmer of encouragement” after years of affordability pressure and shortage, but added that it was too early for celebration.
That is a useful correction to some of the more cheerful supply headlines. More listings can ease tenant choice in the short term, but landlords should note that institutional build-to-rent stock does not replace every type of home being sold off by smaller investors, especially in areas where local private landlords still dominate.
This follows Residential Landlord’s report on Hamptons saying new-let rent growth hit a 13-month high in June, which pointed to demand staying firm even as affordability strains persisted. It also fits with Residential Landlord’s earlier coverage of Pegasus finding portfolio sizes were still edging higher, suggesting expansion is becoming more concentrated among better-capitalised landlords.
Regionally, TwentyCi said rent inflation was far from uniform. Wales posted the sharpest increase at 13.9% year on year, while the East of England recorded a 7.7% fall and Yorkshire and the Humber a 4% fall. That patchy picture suggests the Renters’ Rights Act has not produced a single market response. In some places landlords appear to be pushing up initial asking rents to cover higher costs, while in others affordability limits are now biting harder.
Landlords watching local competition should pay close attention to who is actually supplying the extra stock. TwentyCi’s Q2 2026 Property & Homemover report makes clear that a rise in listings does not automatically mean the independent landlord market is stabilising.
What the latest figures mean for rental strategy
For investors, the immediate message is that headline supply data now needs more care. A market with more purpose-built rental stock can still leave ordinary buy-to-let landlords facing tighter competition in city centres, while suburban or lower-value family stock remains undersupplied.
If this pattern holds, policymakers may claim the rental market is recovering while many letting agents and landlords still feel a squeeze in the parts of the sector they actually operate in. That gap matters, because future regulation will be judged against headline supply numbers that may be flattering the underlying picture.
Opinion
One in six lost rental homes is not a blip. If ministers point to rising listings without separating build-to-rent from the traditional landlord market, they risk misreading what is happening on the ground. More stock is welcome, but it is a very different story when the growth comes from institutions rather than from private landlords choosing to stay.
