There are now over 400,000 limited companies, which makes companies holding buy-to-let property the most common business at Companies House, Hamptons research shows.
The number of buy-to-let companies has risen from just 92,975 in February 2016 to 401,744 in February 2025.
In 2016 mortgage interest tax relief began to be withdrawn from homes owned by higher-rate taxpayers, which started this transition from landlords operating from individuals to limited companies.
Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, said: “The limited company is now the structure of choice for the next generation of investors. Current tax rules mean that most, although not all, new investors find themselves better off in a company structure than owning an investment property in their own name. This means the number of limited companies is likely to continue its upward trajectory for the foreseeable future.
“But 2024 may prove to be a high watermark for the number of new companies set up to hold buy-to-let property. Higher stamp duty rates will be a big barrier for investors looking to move an existing rental home from a personal name into a company structure. It will also weigh down on the number of new buy-to-let purchases overall, likely suppressing the number of companies being set up.
“Tenants moving into a new home have seen rental growth grind to a halt, with prices rising at the slowest rate since September 2020. Londoners, in particular, have seen rents go backwards, with Inner London rents now falling at about half the pace they did during the pandemic. This means some tenants who moved relatively recently may be able to find themselves a better deal by moving again.”
Landlords wanting to switch from operating as an individual to a limited company have to pay stamp duty again, making prohibitive to existing investors.
A record 61,517 new limited companies were set up in 2024, a 23% increase on what had previously been a record set in 2023.
There are now around 680,000 properties held in a limited company structure across England & Wales, with the number rising by an average of 70,000-100,000 per year.
Despite the cost of doing so, some are being moved from personal names into a limited company owned by the same landlord.
Rental growth has slowed across the UK.
Over the 12 months to February 2025, the average cost of a newly agreed let in Great Britain rose by just 1.0%, the slowest rate since September 2020 when rents started returning to growth after falling at the start of the Covid pandemic.
The pace of rental growth nationally has been dragged down by London, where newly agreed rents were down 2.8% on the same time last year.
