Keen thirty-something investors have helped to lower the average age of private landlords by four years over the last decade.

Although the sector is typically associated with an ageing cohort who want to keep their existing holdings or shrink their portfolios, Paragon Bank’s analysis reveals that those acquiring new property with a mortgage fell from an average of 46.4 years in 2014 to 42.9 in 2023.

Ten years ago, 21% of purchases were made by a landlord in their 30s compared with 31% last year.

Its Next Generation Landlord report shows that while the proportion of landlords acquiring new property in their 40s remained consistent at 34% in 2014 and 32% in 2023, there was a more pronounced fall in older landlords buying rental homes.

Those in their 50s accounted for 29% of purchases in 2014, falling to 20% last year, with landlords in their 60s dropping from 10% to 6%. Younger landlords aged between 18 and 29 accounted for 6% of purchases in 2014, rising to 10% last year.

59% male

Paragon’s survey of 500 landlords with between one and three properties who want to grow their portfolios reveals that 59% are male and more than half own property in London and the south east.

Over half (51%) are also involved in some form of property-related business with nearly a quarter (23%) working in property development.

Looking forward, many expressed a greater desire to invest in more complex propositions such as HMOs and multi-unit blocks.

Paragon Bank managing director of mortgages, Richard Rowntree, says: “It is clear there is a committed group of younger landlords who stand ready to take the mantle and provide the rental homes of the future. What they require is a regulatory and fiscal environment that encourages them to do so.”