The average landlord in England and Wales who sold their rental property last year did so after owning it for an average of 8.7 years and sold it for nearly £90,000 than they paid.

That’s according to new figures from Countrywide, which found that landlords made a gain of £86,651 on selling their property in 2017.

The average owner-occupier selling last year made a bigger gain (£92,886) than a landlord after owing their property for longer (nine years on average). The big difference is that landlords have to pay Capital Gains Tax, whereas owner-occupiers do not.

The average gain for landlords last year was very slightly up (0.4%) on 2016, when they made an average of £86,302.

Landlords in London made the largest gains, at £253,981, with 96% of sellers making a profit.

That compared to the north-east where gains were the lowest at an average of £23,874.

Johnny Morris, research director at Countrywide, said: “House price growth has driven investor gains.

“Landlords selling in 2017 owned their homes for nearly nine years.

“In eight of those last nine years, house prices have risen.

“Even in areas where price growth has lagged behind most landlords have made a profit from rising prices.”

“Rents continued to grow in January. London continues to see the greatest falls in the stock of available homes to rent, on the back of reduced investor activity. This scarcity of supply is driving rental growth.”