THE PROPERTY FILTER TAKE
New buy-to-let company formations in Britain fell 8% in the first eight months of 2026, the first sign of a full-year decline since 2008 (Hamptons, via PropertyWire, 14 September 2026).
The one-off transfer wave is fading: Hamptons says most landlords who benefit from incorporating have already done it, and puts the average Stamp Duty bill on a transfer at around £28,000.
If your properties are still held personally, you may wish to model the transfer cost property by property and speak to your accountant about whether the numbers still work for your holding period.
New buy-to-let company formations in Britain fell 8% in the first eight months of 2026, according to Hamptons research reported by PropertyWire on 14 September 2026. Some 41,483 companies were set up between January and August, down from 44,802 in the same period of 2025. If the trend holds, 2026 will be the first full year of decline since 2008.
Why have buy-to-let incorporations stalled?
August was the sharp month. Incorporations fell 22% year-on-year, from 5,363 to 4,198 (Hamptons, via PropertyWire, 14 September 2026). That pushed buy-to-let down to the fifth most common business type registered in the month, from second place in 2025. New mail order and online sales companies took the top spot, on nearly twice as many registrations.
This is not an exodus. The total number of operating buy-to-let companies across Britain still grew, reaching 469,165 by the end of August 2026, up from 443,272 at the end of 2025. New incorporations still outnumber closures. What has changed is the source of that growth. Aneisha Beveridge, Head of Research at Hamptons, said a large part of the boom came from a one-off structural shift. Existing landlords moved properties they already owned into limited companies in response to tax changes. "But we're now reaching the tail end of that trend," she said. If your own structure is still an open question, the guides on running a property business as a company are a sensible starting point. Speak to your accountant before you commit to anything.
What a transfer actually costs
The arithmetic on moving a portfolio has not softened. Hamptons puts the average Stamp Duty bill on these transactions at roughly £28,000, based on an average property price of £380,000 (PropertyWire, 14 September 2026). Both Stamp Duty and capital gains tax are typically payable up front on such transactions (PropertyWire, 14 September 2026). CGT is the tax on the gain when you dispose of an asset. For lower-rate taxpayers, or anyone planning a short to medium-term exit, that bill often fails to pay for itself. Running the figure property by property with a free stamp duty calculator is the quickest way to see where your own break-even sits.
The scale of what has already happened explains the slowdown. In 2025, around 81,800 properties were placed into buy-to-let limited companies across England and Wales, either through purchase or transfer. About 43,400 of those, or 53%, were personal-to-company transfers by existing owners rather than new buys. Those moves have generated roughly £1.2 billion a year for the Treasury, a figure Hamptons expects to fall as the rate of incorporation slows. Beveridge added that limited companies remain the preferred structure for most new investors entering the market, but that formations most likely peaked in 2025.
Rising rents and what they mean if you hold
Separate Hamptons figures for August 2026 show rents for tenants moving into a new home across Britain up 2.4% over 12 months, reaching £1,419 per month. That is the fastest growth since November 2024 and the tenth consecutive month of acceleration. The South West led at 5.4%, ahead of the South East at 3.7%. New-let rents in the North of England passed £1,000 a month for the first time, rising 2.8% from £986 to £1,014. That regional pattern sits alongside the wider property investment strategies for regional portfolios.
From a portfolio perspective, the number that matters is the gap. Average rent across all tenants, including those staying put, rose 2.0% to £1,260 per month, which is £159 below what movers are paying (Hamptons, via PropertyWire, 14 September 2026). Over the cycle, that gap is a rough floor for what keeping a sitting tenant costs in forgone rent, since the all-tenant average includes the movers too. Beveridge also linked the arrival of the Renters' Rights Act, the tenancy reform that applies in England, to higher compliance costs and extra administration feeding through into new-tenancy prices. If rising rents are tempting you back into the market, a free rental stress test calculator will show what a lender is likely to advance at today's rates.
Key takeaways
New buy-to-let company formations fell to 41,483 between January and August 2026, down from 44,802 a year earlier, a drop Hamptons reports as 8% (via PropertyWire).
August alone was down 22% year-on-year, from 5,363 formations to 4,198.
The stock of operating buy-to-let companies still grew, to 469,165 by the end of August 2026 from 443,272 at the end of 2025.
Hamptons puts the average Stamp Duty bill on a personal-to-company transfer at about £28,000, on an average property price of £380,000.
Rents for tenants moving home across Britain rose 2.4% in the 12 months to August 2026, to £1,419 a month, £159 above the £1,260 average paid by all tenants.
Frequently asked questions
Are landlords closing down their buy-to-let companies?
How much does it cost to move a property into a limited company?
Does this mean incorporating is no longer worth it?
How fast are rents rising?
