The so-called “dinner party” property investor is disappearing, with the number of landlords falling by 120,000 in less than three years after stamp duty reforms were introduced by George Osborne.
Figures calculated for The Times by Hamptons International show that landlords have sold 45,250 more homes than they have bought so far this year and a total of 119,250 since April 2016, when the former chancellor introduced a 3% stamp duty surcharge on buy-to-let purchases.
Stamp duty has deterred buyers mainly in the South, where properties are most expensive. Landlords accounted for 9.9% of homes bought in London in November, compared with 16.9% in 2015.
