Over half of landlords treat the management of their properties as a full-time job, Landbay has found.

A survey by the buy-to-let (BTL) lender revealed that just under one in five (19%) landlords relied on a property management company to manage their portfolio, with a quarter (25%) using an estate agent.

Among the landlords that didn’t have another job, the majority owned small portfolios of between four and 10 properties, closely following by a third (34%) who owned over 20 properties.

A further 18% owned between 11 and 20 properties.

Landbay said that "surprisingly", those who managed their own properties spent the biggest proportion of their rental income on property management, despite nearly half of all the landlords surveyed being paid the same or less through an estate agent or property management firm.

The survey also found that a limited company was the preferred set up for most landlords, with 65% owning their properties through this mechanism.

Sales and distribution director at Landbay, Rob Stanton, said: "We are increasingly seeing landlords treating their portfolios as a full-time business, with the sector becoming more of a career choice.

"There is no doubt that managing your own portfolio can be very rewarding although taking professional advice at the right time is essential. We continue to see high levels of activity across the BTL sector. The sector is proving remarkably resilient, despite some challenges."

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