Just two per cent of buy-to-let landlords are planning to sell property when the current leases run out according the RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors).

The RICS commissioned research to find out whether landlords were taking advantage of new tax rules which make it easier to sell investment property.  The answer seems to be a resounding no.  In fact, quite the reverse. The proportion of landlords planning to sell properties has fallen from 6.5 per cent last autumn to 4.6 by the end of January this year to just 2.0 per cent today. 

Some forecasters have argued that a slowing property market would persuade landlords to sell up, adding to the supply of homes on the market and depressing prices, but the reverse appears to be true.  Landlords, it seems, are reluctant to sell in a slower market and are being buoyed by a sharp rise in rents as would be buyers decide to stay put and pay the rent.  That suggests, according to the RICS, that: "Fears of a wave of selling by buy-to-let landlords are misplaced and that the housing market will not, in the near term, have to cope with a sharp increase in the supply of new properties from this source".

Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist said: "Fears that landlords would take advantage of the more favourable capital gains tax regime to bail out of the buy-to-let market appear misplaced. Significantly, with the reduction in loan to value ratios by lenders leaving  first-time buyers struggling to access the housing market, rents are now rising sharply and the expectation is that this trend will continue......The incentive to cash in on the lower tax rate is being outweighed by attractive yields."