Private investors are buying up fewer houses to rent out than in previous years and in Rotterdam and Amsterdam their share of housing transactions has halved, according to new land registry figures.

In the first half of this year, private landlords bought 5,200 properties, compared with 6,000 in the first half of last year and 8,000 four years ago.

This means private investors’ share of housing transactions has gone down from 8% to 6% of the total over four years. The figures only cover owner occupier homes, not rental properties which were changing hands between investors.

In Amsterdam, investors’ share of home purchases fell from 17% to 9% and in Rotterdam from 19% to 8%. They also bought fewer homes in Utrecht, The Hague, Groningen and Enschedé.

Since last year, investors have had to pay higher transfer taxes than private individuals and this would appear to be damping demand, the land registry said. In January 2021 the transfer tax for investors went up from 2% to 8%.

In addition, local authorities have been given more powers to stop people buying homes who do not intend to live in them.