The landlord gender gap is closing, with women now accounting for half of private landlords in the UK.

New research by Yieldit — a service selling tenanted buy to let property — suggests that women have caught up to men and now account for 49 per cent of British landlords. 

The figure represents a marked increase from 2018, when women accounted for 40 per cent of landlords.

Martin Copeland from YieldIt says: “It’s really encouraging to see more women taking steps to become private landlords and closing the gender gap in this sector. 

“Being a private landlord was once considered to mostly be the realm of older middle class men, but our research has shown that landlord demographics are changing fast.

“Forty-nine per cent of the 500 landlords we spoke to were women, owning an average of two properties each. 

“But, while it’s really great news to see more women enter the rental market, there’s still a gap in terms of the average income. Women earn an average of £18,285 a year from their rental properties — but men bring in £21,885.”

Women were also less likely to be considering buying a further rental property in the immediate future, with 19 per cent of women and 25 per cent of men surveyed planning to buy another property in the next 12 months.

YieldIt surveyed 500 private landlords through One Poll in March 2021.