A fifth of short-term lets in London had been long term rentals in the past three years, suggesting that landlords are looking for alternative ways to make money from property.

Using their Landlord Portfolio Analysis tool, based on more than 2,000 listings, Propalt says 20% of short-term lets in the capital used to be listings that belonged to letting agents.

Propalt analysed 2,800 short-term lets at various price points and location in every London borough; 586 had been a long-term rental with a letting agent before becoming a short-term rental property.

Furthermore, the volume of listings belonging to portfolio landlords, those with multiple properties is nearly three times higher than the national average at nearly 30%. These portfolios contain over 10,000 current long-term rentals in and around London.

Propalt’s co-founder, Kieran Slinger, commented “With many ways to advertise and let property to rent agents need to be aware of what is happening within portfolios and which of their landlords is likely to be affected.

“There is a clear trend line toward short-term let in the capital and this is likely to be indicative in other high footfall tourist areas. This will accelerate the shortage of stock we currently see. We know that accidental landlords are leaving the market right now and it appears that portfolio landlords are looking to other models to maximise their returns in this market”

The head of Data at the firm, YuJie Gong, added: “Whilst not unsurprising that landlords are looking to garner returns for their investments the level and voracity of switching is certainly something we are monitoring. We can see the anniversary dates of rentals within portfolios and there is pattern of long term rentals finishing and new adverts appearing for the same properties within 60 days.

“We would expect to see more properties and property owners following this path unless they can see a route to similar returns in the long-term lettings market. It’s certainly something agents should be thinking about in 2024.”