Landlords push for bigger property discounts
12:01 AM, 17th August 2026, 32 seconds ago
Buy to let investors are making more aggressive offers as the housing market slows, with landlords accounting for 14.1% of all home purchases in Great Britain during July, above the 12.4% year-to-date average.
More than half (56%), of investor offers in England and Wales were at least 10% below the first asking price, the highest proportion since April 2020 and up from 48% in June and 45% in July 2025.
The data from Hamptons also shows that cash buyers pushed harder, with 63% of offers from cash-backed landlords at least 10% below the initial asking price.
That’s compared with 25% of offers from first-time buyers and 27% from home movers.
The average landlord paid 88.7% of the initial asking price in July.
Cash landlords gain leverage
David Fell, the firm’s lead analyst, said: “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.”
He added: “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.”
Sellers accept lower offers
Sellers were also more willing to take lower bids, with 27% of investor offers at least 10% below the initial asking price accepted in July, compared with 18% a year earlier.
For leasehold homes, 41% of these discounted offers were accepted.
Time on the market also played a part: low offers that were eventually accepted came after an average of 140 days, compared with 109 days for those rejected.
Accepted investor offers within 10% of the asking price came after 45 days.
In the South East, 70% of investor offers were at least 10% below the first asking price, followed by 60% in the South West.
Deeply discounted offers accounted for 54% of agreed investor deals in the South East, 44% in the South West and 16% in London.
New-let rents accelerate
Hamptons also says that annual rent growth on newly let homes in Great Britain reached 1.9% in July, taking the average monthly figure to £1,401 and marking the fastest increase recorded for new lets in 19 months.
Outer London moved back above £2,000 at £2,001 a month, while the South East reached £1,507 for the first time and recorded annual growth of 2.8%.
Across all tenancies, annual rent growth eased from 2.2% in June to 2.1% in July, with the average tenant paying £1,258 a month compared with £1,401 for someone moving home.
Where a rent increase took place, the average rise was 5.6%, up from 5.5% the previous month, while Scotland recorded the largest average increase at 7.7%.
