A third of Britons aspire to own buy-to-let properties, new study finds

Nationally representative survey of 2,000 UK adults reveals:

33% want to own a buy-to-let property in the future

60% believe property investment is a good way of building long-term wealth

37% would rather invest in a BTL property over stocks and shares

 

A third of UK adults aspire to own a buy-to-let (BTL) property, despite regular suggestions that the market is on the decline, a new study has found.

Market Financial Solutions commissioned leading market research agency Opinium to survey a nationally-representative group of 2,000 UK adults. It found that one in three (33%) want to own a BTL property in the future.

Interestingly, this figure to 54% among respondents aged 18-34, and dips to 14% among those aged 55+.

More generally, 60% believe property investment is an effective means of building long-term wealth, with 37% saying they would rather invest in a BTL property than stocks and shares. Just over half (53%) agreed with the statement that “real estate is a safe and stable asset to invest in”.

Market Financial Solutions’ study also showed that, if they were to win £1 million in the lottery, almost three-fifths (58%) would use some or all of it to buy property. This was particularly true of UK adults aged 18-34, with the figure rising to 68% among this younger demographic.

However, of those aged 18-34, the majority (57%) said they resent the fact it is much harder to invest in BTL properties today than it was for previous generations due to the rise in house prices.

Paresh Raja, CEO of Market Financial Solutions, commented on the findings: “It has become popular over the past decade to bash buy-to-let investing as being increasingly unappealing. Clearly, however, that is far from the case.

“The rise in house prices and borrowing costs, coupled with tighter rules and regulation in the rental market, has undoubtedly caused challenges for both current and prospective landlords. I am sure this will have given some people reason to question whether BTL ownership is the right route for them, but these survey results underline the love affair that the UK has with bricks and mortar.

“Many people aspire to homeownership and property investment. The stability of the market, along with the opportunity for the value of the asset to rise in the longer-term alongside a rental income, all contribute to this. Indeed, if BTL mortgage rates do come down in the coming months as expected, we may well see more first-time landlords entering the market.”

EAN Breaking News

Breaking News from the team at Estate Agent Networking. Have a new story to share with us? Then please get in contact today! When and where we can we will refer to third party websites with a 'live link back' where news was released first.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

London property no longer a safe bet as real-terms prices slide

Inner London stagnates: Wandsworth, Lambeth, Tower Hamlets, Kensington and Chelsea, and Westminster saw annual growth of less than 0.5% between 2016 and 2024, new Rathbones research reveals. Southwark in freefall: Average house prices fell by 2% over the past eight years. Outer London underperforms: Even Bexley, the best-performing borough, only saw 2.8% annual growth –…
Read More
Breaking News

Low deposit mortgage choice boosted to 17-year high

Moneyfacts UK Mortgage Trends Treasury Report data reveals the combined choice of higher loan-to-value mortgages (90% and 95% LTV) rose to its highest count in 17 years. These deals combined represent 19% of the residential mortgage market overall, where choice is at an 18-year high. Month-on-month the overall average two- and five-year fixed mortgage rates…
Read More
Breaking News

Property market beset by delays as conveyancer queries vary by an ‘alarming’ 8,176%

The scale of inefficiency in the property market was laid bare today by new analysis that reveals some conveyancers receive 83 times as many Land Registry queries as others. The number of requests sent to conveyancers to progress cases varied by an “alarming” 8,176%, ranging from 2.9 per 100 applications to 237, new analysis of…
Read More
Breaking News

Breaking Property News 8/09/25

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X. MetaWealth and One United Partners launch €18 million tokenized real estate bonds opportunity in Bucharest Press Release London, UK & Bucharest, Romania Sept 2025  MetaWealth, a tokenised real estate investment platform, today launched a €17.9 million bonds basket targeting 19% annual returns, as part of its…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

Hodge adds 95% LTV to Resi and Resi Retire propositions to support borrowers with complex income

New 95% loan-to-value (LTV) mortgage options have been added to Hodge’s Resi and Resi Retire propositions, giving customers from age 21 with varied income types greater access to the property market. These latest enhancements align with Hodge’s wider shift towards “lifelong lending”, bringing together core residential and retirement propositions, where lending is based on a…
Read More
Breaking News

Younger generations see homeownership as less important

The latest research from Yopa has revealed how attitudes towards homeownership vary between generations, showing that while the majority still aspire to own, its perceived importance has waned among younger buyers who also find the path to ownership more challenging than their parents did. Yopa surveyed* Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials and Generation Z to…
Read More