A record 66,587 new limited companies were formed to hold buy-to-let property in 2025 – an 8% rise on the previous high set in 2024 and a staggering 363% increase over the past decade.
Analysis by Hamptons of Companies House data shows buy-to-let companies were the UK’s second most common type of new business last year, behind only mail-order firms and ahead of management consultants.
By the end of 2025, there were 443,272 active buy-to-let companies registered – nearly five times the 91,278 recorded in 2016.
Incorporations peaked at 6,493 in September, the highest monthly total on record, with more than 5,000 companies formed in 10 of the 12 months.
CONTINUING TREND
The trend has continued into 2026, with 5,922 new companies set up in January alone – 11% higher than the same month last year.
The surge comes despite investors accounting for a smaller share of home purchases. Across Great Britain, landlords bought 10.8% of homes in 2025, down from 11.9% in 2024.
Today, around 75%-80% of all new buy-to-let purchases are made through limited companies, although rising incorporation numbers also reflect landlords transferring existing properties into corporate structures.
At the same time, rental growth is cooling. The average rent on a newly let home fell 0.2% year-on-year in January to £1,366 pcm, marking the seventh consecutive monthly slowdown. Inner London rents have now been falling for 13 straight months.
NO SIGN OF ABATING
Aneisha Beveridge (main picture, inset), Head of Research at Hamptons, says: “Landlord’s shift towards limited company ownership continued through 2025 and shows little sign of slowing this year.
“While the tougher tax treatment introduced in 2016 sparked the initial move into corporate structures, five years of frozen personal allowances, combined with the impact of higher mortgage rates, which company landlords can fully offset against their tax bill, have fuelled the more recent surge.
“As more landlords find themselves pulled into the 40% income tax bracket, paying corporation tax at 19% or even 25% has become increasingly attractive.”
FINANCIAL SENSE
She adds: “Today, limited company ownership makes financial sense for the majority of landlords, with around 75%-80% of all new buy-to-let purchases now made via a company.
“But it isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. For landlords who earn no income beyond their rents and remain lower-rate taxpayers, owning property in personal names can still be the better option, particularly as above-inflation increases have pushed up Companies House filing fees.
“While newly agreed rents continue to record small annual falls, the pace of decline has stabilised.
“And as has been the case for the last two years, tenants renewing their contracts are seeing the larger rises. With rent increases due to be open to tribunal challenge from May, many landlords are using the months ahead to ensure their rents are aligned as closely as possible to market levels.”
