“There is no guaranteed way for anyone to predict what house price trends will be at any one point in time, meaning choosing if and when to sell an investment can be a difficult decision”
– Reece Mennie – Hunter Jones Group
Discerning investors generally want to be assured of three key factors before they make any decision: will there be a healthy return on their investment, will they be protected against inflation, and is the market they’re looking at growing?
The answers to each of these questions help explain why so many are now turning to alternative avenues of property investment, and why the appeal of traditional buy-to-let arrangements has diminished greatly over the past few years.
Why are fewer investors opting to buy-to-let?
A series of changes means tax is now paid on the entire rental income, while deducting expenses and relief based on individual tax brackets has been replaced by a 20% credit applicable to all mortgage interest payments.
For some, this has substantially altered their return on investment – and it is just one of the reasons why just 10.9% of all homes in Great Britain were bought by landlords in 2025, according to Hamptons, which is down from 12% the previous year and the lowest share on record.
Another challenge is the Renters’ Rights Bill, which became law in October 2025, with adjustments such as the scrapping of so-called ‘no-fault’ evictions and fixed-term tenancies and the introduction of limits on rent rises and upfront payments coming into force later in 2026.
House value volatility has also likely dissuaded some investors from the buy-to-let market, with the post-Covid boom of 14% price increases giving way to a period over the winter of 2023 where values were decreasing.
Whilst the growth is now positive, it is still much slower than in any of the property boom heydays of recent decades, with the latest Office for National Statistics data showing a 2.2% increase in the average house price in England between November 2024 and November 2025 – in monetary terms, this equates to around £6,000.
But naturally, there is no guaranteed way for anyone to predict what house price trends will be at any one point in time, meaning choosing if and when to sell an investment can be a difficult decision.
How can investors tap into increased demand?
While the pool of investors looking to purchase properties to rent them out has decreased, the exact opposite is true of the number of people looking to rent a home in the UK.
Demand naturally varies in line with wider economic events like new incentives for first-time buyers, but Propertymark reports there were an average of nine applications for every available rental property on the market in the latter part of 2025. In addition, Government statistics show 1.34 million people are on social housing waiting lists.
The widespread and continued need for additional homes, combined with the lower and less certain ROIs for buy-to-let opportunities, means alternative ways of tapping into the property investment market are gaining popularity – ways such as structured investments.
Do alternative property investments provide protection against inflation?
While rising inflation rates spell good news for the value of existing portfolios and rental incomes, the resulting hikes to mortgages and operational and maintenance costs due to higher interest levels are no doubt a deterrent for many would-be investors.
Opting for a structured investment rather than buy-to-let offers protection against inflation, as the property developer issuing the ‘loan note’ sets their own interest rates and terms, meaning investors can be clear from the outset how much they stand to gain from the deal and over what period of time.
Property bond rates are often set at around 10%, offering a much higher return than those traditionally seen with buy-to-let, ISA savings or from money held in a bank account.
Monetary advantages aside, investors do not need to understand the intricacies of the development or property sectors in order to opt for this type of arrangement, and the time involved with self-managing a buy-to-let portfolio, or the cost associated with delegating management to a third party, such as a letting agent, is completely eradicated.
With further Governmental reform around the rental sector always a possibility, and inflation remaining an ever-variable challenge, it is no wonder so many experts are predicting a continued rise in structured investment arrangements.
No investment is ever completely without risk, but the security involved in a mutual agreement around important details like ROI is becoming an ever more attractive prospect in such an uncertain world; these arrangements allow investors to tap into the widespread demand for properties while offering them more protection against the ups and downs of a tumultuous economy.