An online auction firm claims well over a third of its clients are buy to let landlords quitting the sector.

Some 38 per cent of My Auction’s current property lots are from investors quitting – and the auction house claims that some landlords are willing to sell for 25 to 30 per cent less than they might have sold for before, to leave quickly. 

The firm says that ironically some landlords wanting to expand their portfolios may benefit from the cheaper prices of properties from other landlords wanting out.

Over recent months, the company has claimed that the most common type of property being sought by investors are two-bedroom flats (40 per cent) followed by two/three bed houses (30 per cent) and one-bedroom flats (15 per cent). 

Some 15 per cent of investment purchases’ have been homes of multiple occupancy. Despite often being more difficult to manage, HMOs remain popular because they tend to offer returns in the current market of eight per cent, according to My Auction.

“The interest rate rises have solidified and sped up the mass exodus of buy-to-let investors from the market. However, other contributing factors, such as the consistent changes in legislation and taxation surrounding landlords in this section of the market, have made it almost unviable for some landlords to retain their investment properties” explains Stuart Collar-Brown, co-founder and director of My Auction.

“Landlords who are cash rich have the added benefit of not being reliant on mortgage rate increases, so we are seeing many making lower offers due to their ability to transact very quickly in a falling market.”