UK Attitudes towards Investing in Property: 2026
Property investment in the UK is undergoing significant change, as rising costs, regulatory reform and economic uncertainty reshape both participation and perception.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- What you need to know
- Outlook for investing in property
- Opportunities
- Transform compliance burden into a source of differentiation and revenue
- Help investors dial down the effort, not the ambition
- Turn interest into investment through education and integration
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THE MARKET
- Consumers remain wary of long-term financial investments
- Graph 1: CPI and average wage rises, 2022-26
- Elevated base rates constrain affordability
- High house prices deter entry, but reinforce appeal
- Graph 2: average house price, 2006-26
- Affordability pressures entrench a ‘rent trap’
- Graph 3: average private monthly rent, 2015-26
- Buy-to-let lending stabilises as landlords consolidate and expand
- Graph 4: gross buy-to-let mortgage lending, 2021-26
- Regulatory and legislative changes
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THE CONSUMER
- Today’s investment property buyers
- Consumers conflicted on property’s long-term vs short-term appeal
- Break the perception barrier to unlock wider engagement
- Graph 5: consumers’ property investment position, 2026
- Untapped appetite signals growth potential
- Support independent landlords to strengthen the sector
- Converting aspiring property investors
- Aspiring landlords are positive about the market’s future
- Be the guiding hand for first-time investors
- Use convenience to drive conversion
- Democratise investment access with fractional ownership
- Scaling active engagement
- Landlords press ahead with portfolio growth
- Win portfolio landlords with specialist BTL capabilities
- Profitability weighs heavily on landlords
- Keep clients in play with short-term letting routes
- Compliance costs chip away at property’s appeal
- Bring resources together with regulation crash courses
- Rebuild landlord confidence with community
- Widening indirect property investing
- Bridge the awareness gap to unlock indirect investing
- Capitalise on property demand to boost indirect asset uptake
- Use adviser trust to widen indirect investing
- Landlords seen as adding fuel to housing crisis fire
- Turn moral hesitation into investment momentum
- Tap crypto investors’ property appetite
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INNOVATION AND MARKETING
- Lenders enhance loan accessibility amidst economic uncertainty
- Specialist BTL lending shifts from niche to necessity
- Proptech partnerships power the evolution of BTL lending
- Platforms simplify compliance for landlords under pressure
- Low awareness limits uptake of indirect property investing
- Retail investing shift supports property funds
- Mainstream exposure boosts property funds appeal
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APPENDIX
- Report scope
- Taxation changes
- Renters’ Rights Act
- The consumer
- Consumer research questions
- Consumer research methodology – EMEA
- UK generation groups
- Abbreviations and terms
- Abbreviations
Property investment in the UK is undergoing significant change, as rising costs, regulatory reform and economic uncertainty reshape both participation and perception. While underlying demand remains strong, the traditional buy-to-let (BTL) model is becoming harder to access and increasingly complex to manage. The result is a market in transition, shifting towards consolidation and professionalisation as smaller landlords exit and larger, more experienced players scale up. While this growing concentration may strengthen returns for remaining investors, it also raises questions about rental supply and market competition.
Despite these pressures, property retains strong appeal as a long-term investment, but high borrowing costs and elevated house prices have limited affordability, constraining participation. However, alternative models are beginning to gain momentum. Indirect property investments offer a lower-cost, lower-effort way to access property returns, offering a potential answer to the accessibility challenge. Yet, awareness is limited, and uptake has yet to catch up with underlying interest. Unlocking this opportunity will depend on making these models more visible, more understandable and more trusted.
This Report Looks at the Following Areas:
- How rising costs, interest rates and economic uncertainty are affecting the buy-to-let market and mortgage lending
- The role of regulatory and tax changes in reshaping landlord behaviour and market participation
- Current engagement trends in property investing, alongside broader perceptions of the buy-to-let market
- The motivations and barriers affecting non-investors planning to purchase an investment property within the next five years
- The intentions and strategies of current landlords, including the impact of sector professionalisation on portfolio growth and participation
- The growth potential of indirect property investments as a more accessible route into the market, and the role of awareness in unlocking uptake
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