Non-UK citizens own one-fifth of new buy-to-let companies

One in five buy-to-let property companies set up in the last year is owned - at least in part - by an investor who is not a British citizen, research has found. The estate agent Hamptons analysed Companies House data and found that 20 per cent of all newly-established buy-to-let limited companies listed one or more shareholders as an overseas investor.

These shareholders may or may not reside in the UK. According to Hamptons, many are likely to be individuals with citizenship in countries such as India and Nigeria, but who are living in the UK. Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, said: 'While overseas-based investors are part of the picture, the majority of purchases by non-UK nationals reflect domestic demand.'

'Up until 2021, this demand was most likely to come from EU nationals based in the UK, but since then, it has shifted to reflect changes in broader migration patterns. Indian and Nigerian nationals are increasingly likely to buy UK buy-to-let property in a limited company structure.' While the companies are new, they may be transferring over properties they have owned in their personal names for some time. The share of buy-to-let companies with overseas shareholders has increased in nine of the last 10 years, Hamptons said. In 2016, the share was 13 per cent.

Not all landlords own properties via a limited company, with many owning them in their personal name instead. Hamptons said landlords hailing from India made up the largest group of new registrations in the last year, as they have in every year since 2023. They were followed by those from Nigeria, Poland, Ireland and Italy.

Hamptons added that, since Brexit, the share of buy-to-let company shareholders from EU countries had fallen, in line with general migration trends. In 2016, some 65 per cent of non-UK shareholders came from the EU, but this figure has fallen to 49 per cent in 2025. Eastern European nationalities have bucked the trend, though. Both Polish and Romanian nationals now make up a larger share of new buy-to-let shareholders than they did in 2016, setting up 473 and 208 companies in the first half of 2025 respectively.

Beveridge said: 'Despite the challenges facing landlords, non-UK nationals are increasingly embracing UK buy-to-let. The London market has long been an international one, well-known across East Asia, the US, and the EU. However, demand from non-UK nationals has steadily been shifting into lower-value markets outside the capital, where the bulk of growth in both house prices and rents has been seen in recent years.'

Non-UK nationals make up the largest proportion of shareholders in buy-to-let companies registered in London. This year, 27 per cent of newly-registered buy-to-let companies in the capital were owned by non-UK nationals, rising to 54 per cent in the borough of Kensington & Chelsea and 51 per cent in Hammersmith & Fulham. Regions outside the capital have generally seen the largest growth in foreign ownership, however. Between 2016 and 2025, the share of new non-UK national landlords more than doubled in the East Midlands, West Midlands and Scotland. Runnymede in Surrey saw the highest share of new companies set up by non-UK nationals this year of any other local authority in the country, at 59 per cent.

Using a limited company as an ownership structure for buy-to-let properties has become more popular in recent years because it offers potential tax benefits. According to a previous Hamptons report, the number of buy-to-let companies went up by 332 per cent between February 2016 and February 2025, going from 92,975 to 401,744. The main benefit of 'incorporating' your buy-to-let properties is that corporation tax - payable in a company structure - is lower than income tax, which is payable for landlords who own properties in their own name. This allows landlords to build up profit within the company, which they can use it to re-invest towards another property sooner than they might otherwise have done if owning in their own name.

Owning in a limited company also allows property investors to fully offset all of their mortgage interest against their rental income, before paying tax. Landlords who own property in their own name only receive tax relief based on 20 per cent of their mortgage interest payments. It means that whilst individual landlords are effectively taxed on turnover, company landlords are taxed purely on profit. Hamptons estimates that 70 to 75 per cent of new buy-to-let purchases now go into a company structure.