Buy-to-let investors accounted for 14.1% of property purchases in July as landlords used their chain-free status to negotiate larger discounts, according to Hamptons.
More than half of investor offers in England and Wales were at least 10% below the original asking price, the highest proportion since the first Covid lockdown in April 2020.
The figure rose from 45% in July 2025 to 56% last month, reaching 63% among cash-buying landlords. The average investor paid 88.7% of the initial asking price.
By comparison, 25% of offers from first-time buyers and 27% from existing homeowners were more than 10% below the original price.
SELLERS BECOME MORE PRAGMATIC
Some 27% of investor offers at least 10% below asking price were accepted, compared with 18% a year earlier.
Leasehold sellers were particularly receptive, accepting 41% of heavily discounted offers.
Homes where a low offer was accepted had spent an average of 140 days on the market, compared with 45 days where an offer within 10% of asking price was agreed.
The South East recorded the highest proportion of discounted investor offers at 70%, followed by the South West at 60%. London had the lowest at 30%.
RENTS REACH £1,401
Annual rental growth on newly let homes accelerated for an eighth consecutive month, reaching a 19-month high of 1.9% in July. The average new let now costs £1,401 per month.
Growth was strongest in Wales at 4%, followed by the South West at 3.7% and West Midlands at 3.3%.
Across all tenancies, average rents increased by 2.1% annually to £1,258 per month.
CHAIN-FREE BUYERS GAIN LEVERAGE
David Fell (main picture, inset), Lead Analyst at Hamptons, says: “When the market slows, seasoned investors rarely stand on the sidelines for long. With homes taking longer to sell and chains proving fragile, landlords are using their liquidity and chain-free status to maximise their leverage when it comes to agreeing a price.
“At the same time, sellers who have been on the market for several months are becoming more pragmatic. This is particularly true for flat owners, where demand remains weaker than for houses, or for those selling in the South of England more generally.”
MARKET OPPORTUNITY
And he adds: “While higher borrowing costs continue to weigh on investment returns, landlords with cash or low levels of borrowing are finding that a slower market is creating opportunities to purchase at significantly lower prices than would have been possible a few years ago.
“Although these hikes may not be as large as in previous peak years, for landlords, the re-emergence of an upward trajectory in rents provides a counterweight to higher borrowing costs.”
