Some landlords were still considering purchases during the unsettled market of summer 2023. A July LandlordZONE article cited a Deposit Protection Service poll of more than two thousand landlords in which 10% planned to expand their portfolios. That finding was a minority position within the survey, rather than evidence that most owners intended to buy.
Among that group, 60% said they might act within two years. The denominator matters: the figure referred to those already considering expansion, not to all respondents. A stated intention also differs from a completed transaction, especially when circumstances can change over a two-year period.
The report said 21% of those considering a purchase within that timeframe were looking beyond the area where they lived. It also recorded an interest in terraced houses. These preferences described the plans reported in the survey, without identifying an appropriate location or property type for any other buyer.
The wider article placed the findings against higher borrowing costs and concerns about household budgets. It discussed how outright owners, people partway through a fixed-rate period and those needing new finance could experience the same market differently. That distinction helps explain why some owners might consider selling while others still explored a purchase.
It also drew on Savills commentary about differences between buyers reliant on borrowing and those with more equity or cash. Such comparisons were observations about the market of the time. They did not demonstrate that buying without a mortgage removed the risks of ownership or guaranteed a favourable result.
The original contained rate forecasts and investment suggestions. Those are not carried forward here as current expectations or recommendations. This retrospective focuses on the survey’s reported plans and the need to read each percentage against the correct group.
The archived story shows that a difficult national backdrop does not produce identical intentions among all landlords. It records diversity within the July 2023 responses while leaving later outcomes unverified. Plans, ability to transact and an eventual purchase remain three different stages, each requiring its own evidence.