The number of homes in the UK being bought and let out by overseas landlords is on the rise.
A total of 11 per cent of properties in Britain are now rented out by owners from abroad - up from seven per cent in 2018 but down from 14 per cent in 2010 - according to the Hamptons International Lettings Index.
London has the highest number of homes let by overseas landlords (18 per cent) - up from 10 per cent during the first 10 months of 2018 - followed by the East of England (14 per cent).
Meanwhile, Wales has the lowest number of homes let by non-UK landlords (-2 per cent) and was the only region to record a fall compared with 2018.
The rise in landlords from abroad has been driven by the depreciation of the pound, the report found.
The majority of these international home owners live in Western Europe (33 per cent) and Asia (20 per cent) but US landlords have increased the most over the period, rising to 14 per cent in 2019 - 1.9 per cent higher than five years ago.
The average UK home cost £53,065 (or 23 per cent) less than it did in 2014 for a US dollar buyer – due to a fall in the value of the pound.
The stamp duty bill on a second home purchase would be £9,140. In London, the average property would save a US dollar buyer £107,030 compared with 2014.
However, the proportion of overseas landlords from the Middle East fell the most since 2014.
Middle Eastern investors made up nine per cent of all overseas-based landlords in Britain - 2.4 per cent fewer than in 2014.
Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons International, said: “The proportion of homes let by overseas based landlords rose for the first time in more than nine years.
"The East and London recorded the biggest increases. Sterling’s depreciation has made investment property in Great Britain more attractive to international investors."
Meanwhile, rental growth in the South of England outstripped the North.
Nationally, rents rose 2.2 per cent in October, but rents in the South East rose 3.9 per cent compared with a -0.6 per cent fall in the North. It was the first annual rental fall in the North for 17 months.
The areas of the UK with the most overseas landlords
% of homes let by overseas based landlords (2019 YTD) |
YoY change in the % of homes let by overseas landlords |
Average Price |
Discount from £ depreciation against US$ since 2014 |
Average stamp duty bill (including 3% surcharge for second homeowners) |
||
| London | 18% |
8% |
£ 469,640 | -£ 107,030 | £ 27,570 | |
| Yorkshire & the Humber | 10% |
3% |
£ 162,500 | -£ 37,030 | £ 5,630 | |
| South East | 13% |
7% |
£ 321,580 | -£ 73,290 | £ 15,730 |
|
| Scotland | 6% |
0% |
£ 151,040 | -£ 34,420 | £ 5,050 | |
| South West | 9% |
4% |
£ 255,540 | -£ 58,240 | £ 10,440 | |
| East of England | 14% |
8% |
£ 290,560 | -£ 66,220 | £ 13,240 | |
| North West | 12% |
7% |
£ 163,700 | -£ 37,310 | £ 5,690 | |
| North East | 10% |
5% |
£ 128,510 | -£ 29,290 | £ 3,930 | |
| West Midlands | 5% |
1% |
£ 184,710 | -£ 42,100 | £ 6,740 | |
| East Midlands | 5% |
2% |
£ 192,760 | -£ 43,930 | £ 7,140 | |
| Wales | 2% |
-2% |
£ 162,290 | -£ 36,990 | £ 5,610 | |
| Great Britain | 11% |
4% |
£ 232,840 | -£ 53,065 | £ 9,140 |
