17% of all homes now rented
Posted on 18th August 2011
The Department of Communities & Local Government has reported statistics that indicate 17.4% of homes are now within the private rented sector (PRS).
This is a 16.4% increase, around 229,000 properties, from figures in 2009. It is also reported that since the start of the millennium the amount of properties in the sector has risen by 1.8 million and now stands at 3.9 million.
Nigel Terrington, Chief Executive of Paragon Group, welcomes these figures and stated: “The increase in PRS homes is fuelled by a combination of landlords buying property with cash and buy-to-let mortgages, people letting out homes they have inherited and homeowners deciding to let their property.” Paragon Group also predicts that the continuous increase in rental demand will make investment property more and more desirable.
Mr Terrington goes on to say: “We are seeing a very different mix of tenants in the sector now. No longer is it dominated by students and young professionals, it is a much wider group including more families and mature tenants and therefore we need to have a PRS adaptable to suit all.”