Growing numbers of first-time buyers bought properties to rent out last year as the stamp duty holiday prompted more would-be landlords to make investments.
New research from conveyancing solicitor Bird & Co found that while 71% of its clients in 2021 across England and Wales were first-time buyers, between 10 to 20% of those who aimed to become landlords were new to the market. The firm says it’s unclear whether these buyers planned to let the property out as in part or whole, or as a holiday let, adding: “What we also don’t know is whether these first-timer buyers are living at home still, or are able to rent a property whilst also letting another property out…but it is interesting to see that some first-time buyers are in this fortunate position to begin making money as a landlord.”
Stamp Duty Holiday
Its analysis of more than 1,300 transactions in its client enquiries database also found that the majority of home buyers in 2021 were landlords, who had benefited the most from the Stamp Duty Holiday; an average of 58% of buyers who enquired were not buying the property as their main residence, a marked change from 2020, where 35% of buyers were in this position.
In Q1 and Q2 of 2021, 87% of Bird and Co clients and around a quarter in Q3 and Q4 were looking to buy properties as a second residence. It adds: “These statistics show that the buy-to-let sector has continued to hold up during the pandemic. If anything, the pandemic, which spurred the Stamp Duty Holiday, has benefited landlords.”
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