Latest data from a major lender features a major shift in the BTL property market which highlights that Southern England is suffering from a record drop in the percentage of properties bought by landlords due to the excessive higher Stamp Duty costs.

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The trend of falling buy-to-let purchases in the South is constant as just 35 per cent of BTL properties purchased in 2023 came from the South East , South West and Greater London.

This figure has year on year dropped from 52 per cent in 2015 the year before introduction of the extra surcharge on Stamp Duty, a spokesman for the bank says; “The introduction of the Stamp Duty surcharge disproportionately impacted those markets with above-average house prices in the South of England.”

This reduction marks a significant shift from South of England’s peak in 2015 and even shows a decrease from 39 per cent in 2022 which shows a continual lowering of Southern investments after 2020 and 2021 highs during the stamp duty holidays.

Whereas such regions as the North West and Yorkshire & Humber have had healthy increases in BTL purchases rising from 9 per cent to 14 per cent in the NW and 6 per cent to 10 per cent in the latter during 2015 to 2023.

However the South East, London, and the South West have seen their shares of the market decreasing with the Capital suffering the most plummeting from 19 per cent  to just 12 per cent of the UK total.

This change of direction suggests that the BTL market is prospering in regions where property prices are more affordable and consequently have not been as badly ‘stung’ by the Stamp Duty surcharge.

The lender states it is of the utmost importance for more available rental properties across the UK especially in the South and the capital, as demand for rental homes is at its highest because of the transit population; “With the population forecast to increase by 9.9% – or by 6.6 million people – by 2036, demand for rental property is only going to be stronger,” the bank’s spokesman explained.