The number of UK residential properties sold by overseas individuals has fallen, with 16,520 transactions recorded in the year to April 2026 compared with 18,100 the previous year, according to research by Bowmore Wealth Group.
HMRC data provided to Bowmore showed that just 70 wealthy overseas individuals sold UK residential properties worth more than £5m during the period, down from 80 in the year before.
The slowdown follows the abolition of non-dom tax status in the Autumn Budget 2024, a change widely expected to accelerate property disposals by wealthy overseas investors. Bowmore said the initial pace of selling now appears to have subsided.
Buy-to-let taxation has also weighed on the attractiveness of UK residential property for both overseas and domestic investors. From 2027, the tax on income from property will rise by two percentage points for investors. Existing rules already prevent investors from deducting mortgage interest payments from rental income. The Renters’ Rights Act has added further pressure, making it substantially harder to end a tenancy and imposing restrictions on rental increases.
Bowmore also cited recent research from the Adam Smith Institute, which found that the number of individuals in the UK with a net worth of £1m or more has fallen 7% since 2024, reaching its lowest level since the Global Financial Crisis in 2008.
“It appears to be a period of readjustment for UK and overseas owners of UK property. Residential property, as an asset class, is having to face a number of challenges,” said David Floyd, head of private clients at Bowmore Financial Planning.
He added, “The Renters’ Rights Act is just that the latest catalyst that encouraged investors to reduce their exposure to residential property in favour of equities or short-term bonds.”
“Net yields on rental property in London are around 2% and over the decade UK house prices have fallen or stagnated in real terms.”
“When you can get a risk-free 4.6% on a five-year Government bond, it makes the net yields on residential property look very low.”
“Those low net yields on buy-to-let property were justifiable when property prices were roaring away but not now.”
“The administrative burden of being a landlord, as opposed to being a stock market investor, has always been quite onerous, and the new Renters’ Rights Act has added an extra level of uncertainty to being a landlord.”