Big rise in foreign landlords thanks to Brexit’s weak pound

The proportion of homes in Great Britain let by overseas based landlords is 11 per cent, up from seven per cent a year ago.

Countrywide’s Hamptons International brand, which produced the data, says this is the first year-on-year increase since its records began in 2010.

The increase was mainly driven by areas in the South, with the East of England and London recording the biggest rise in the proportion of homes let by overseas landlords.  

The proportion of homes let by non-UK based investors in London and the East rose eight per cent year-on-year.  The South East and the North East followed, both recording a seven per cent year-on-year rise.

London had the highest proportion of homes let by overseas based landlords - that’s 18 per cent - up from 10 per cent a year ago.

The depreciation of Sterling is one of the main reasons why the proportion of homes let by overseas based landlords has risen, says Hamptons International, meaning it is now cheaper for international buyers to purchase a home in Great Britain than it was a few years ago.  

In many cases, the pound’s depreciation more than pays for the additional three per cent stamp duty surcharge payable on second home purchases.

The average home in Great Britain cost £53,065 or 23 per cent less than it did in 2014 for a US dollar buyer – solely due to a fall in the value of the pound.  

Meanwhile the stamp duty bill on this second home purchase would be £9,140.  In London, the average property would save a US dollar buyer £107,030 compared with 2014.

Western Europeans still made up the largest group of overseas landlords, with one in three (33%) based there so far this year.  

However, since 2014, North American landlords have increased the most.  The proportion of homes let by international landlords based in North America has risen to 14 per cent so far this year, 1.9 per cent higher than in 2014.  

Landlords based in Eastern Europe, Africa and Oceania also recorded increases.  Meanwhile the proportion of overseas landlords from the Middle East fell the most since 2014.  

Middle Eastern investors made up nine per cent of all overseas based landlords in Great Britain, 2.4 per cent fewer than in 2014.