Rubbish Check
Daily Mail Money · 28 October 2026
source“Two in three landlords say they will sell properties as buy-to-let is hammered by tax and regulations”
R5/ 10
Selective
Rubbish Rating — 1 = base fact, 10 = pure rubbish
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In short
Rubbish Talk rates Daily Mail Money's claim that landlords are being "hammered" into selling a 5/10 because the underlying Property118 survey says 65% plan to sell "at least one" property over the next three years, not that two-thirds are offloading portfolios imminently, and the article's own sources cite multiple drivers beyond tax and regulation.
The Verdict
Selective. The 65% figure is real and correctly rounded to "two in three," but the headline upgrades a three-year planning intention into a present-tense "will sell," and collapses a multi-causal story (yields, bond returns, admin burden, regulation) into the single punchier villain of "tax and regulations," burying the article's own quote that the exodus will be "a slow trickle… rather than a flood."
What actually happened
A survey by landlord consultancy Property118 found that a majority of buy-to-let investors are planning to reduce their holdings over the coming years, against a backdrop of the Renters' Rights Act, elevated mortgage rates and flat or falling house prices in parts of the UK. HMRC capital gains data shows landlord losses on residential sales rising year-on-year, though most of the landlords quoted frame this as a gradual, strategic shift rather than a panic exit.
Key facts
- 65% of buy-to-let investors say they plan to sell at least one property in the next three years (Property118 survey, as cited in article), not immediately as the headline implies.
- Landlords lost £1.15bn in the 2024-25 tax year on residential property capital gains, up a third from £870m in 2023-24 (Bowmore Wealth Group analysis of HMRC data).
- Average UK house price was £298,441 in September, flat year-on-year; London fell 2.2% to £531,548; South East fell 2.1% to £380,829 (Lloyds House Price Index).
- Broker Harry Goodliffe predicts "a slow trickle of rental homes rather than a flood," contradicting the headline's dramatic framing.
- Bowmore's David Floyd cites low net yields versus stock markets and bonds, plus admin burden, as co-equal drivers alongside the Renters' Rights Act.
- Property118's own founder, Mark Alexander, frames selling as potentially strategic portfolio-strengthening, not purely distress.
What to watch for
Watch whether the "trickle" prediction holds when the next Renters' Rights Act enforcement milestones land, and whether rising CGT losses keep climbing in the 2025-26 HMRC data, which would firm up the tax-driven exit narrative rather than leave it resting on a single consultancy survey.
About this scoreThe R-Score is Rubbish Talk's editorial opinion on how far a headline's framing sits from what the underlying facts support. It is a judgement about presentation and emphasis, not an allegation that any outlet has acted dishonestly. Every figure we rely on is linked under Receipts so you can check it yourself.
