The latest market data suggests one of the biggest recent pressures in the private rented sector may be easing slightly. According to TwentyCi figures reported this week, the share of homes coming to market that were previously rented fell from 22.5% in the first quarter of 2025 to 12.4% in the first quarter of 2026. That is a sharp year-on-year drop, and it points to fewer landlords selling former rental properties than a year ago.
For landlords, though, the more useful reading is not that the sector has suddenly stabilised. The same data suggests most of the homes that do get sold are not returning to the lettings market afterwards. TwentyCi says only 6% of properties sold outside London in Q2 and Q3 2025 were later re-let, rising to 11% in the capital. In practice, that means the pace of landlord exits may be slowing, while the available stock of private rented homes is still being worn down.
Why that matters
This is important because it helps explain why rental conditions can remain tight even when the more dramatic headlines about a landlord exodus start to cool. Fewer landlords may be rushing for the door, but if sold homes are mostly being absorbed by owner-occupiers rather than other investors, the sector is still losing units overall.
That matters for supply, tenant choice and day-to-day operating conditions. It also matters for the wider market picture. TwentyCi’s wider Q1 2026 report says new listings across the sales market were up 5.1% year on year, while transactions were down 3.9% compared with the same period last year. The report also says rental listings coming to market rose by nearly 19% year on year and lets agreed were up 5.8%, while average rents edged down 2% to £1,450 a month. In other words, activity is still happening, but affordability pressure has not disappeared.
What landlords should take from it
The main takeaway is caution rather than celebration. A slower rate of sell-offs is not the same thing as a rebuilding of rental supply. Landlords who stay in the sector may still be operating in a market where decent stock remains scarce, tenant affordability is stretched and policy pressure remains high.
Here4 Landlords has already covered the Renters’ Rights timetable and the extra penalties guidance around enforcement. Those changes have not gone away just because the pace of disposals appears to have eased. If anything, the latest numbers suggest landlords still active in the market may need to focus even more on compliance, standards and retention, because replacement supply is not obviously flooding back in.
There is also a broader demand angle. TwentyCi says renting now takes up a record 45.5% of median disposable income, while the monthly cost of servicing a mortgage remains lower than renting in every UK region on its figures. That will not affect every local market in the same way, but it does underline how squeezed many households remain. For landlords, that can translate into persistent affordability ceilings even where demand stays firm.
Still a tight and slightly awkward market
The picture, then, is a slightly awkward one. The sector may no longer be losing landlords at the same pace as last year, which is plainly better than a continued acceleration of sell-offs. But that does not mean the private rented sector has regained lost ground. Sold stock still appears to be leaving the sector more often than it returns, and rental affordability remains under strain.
That lines up with another recent signal we covered when rents outside London flattened for the quarter. The market is no longer simply a story of rents rising everywhere at speed. It is becoming more nuanced, with supply, affordability and regulation pulling in different directions at once.
For landlords, the sensible response is not to treat this as either a crisis over or a green light moment. It is better read as evidence that the market remains structurally tight, even if one of the more visible symptoms has eased. Watching local demand, void risk, repair standards and compliance readiness is likely to matter more than drawing broad comfort from one quarter’s improvement in sell-off numbers.
