Rent rise

NEW GOVERNMENT RESEARCH has confirmed private renting’s status as the tenure of the noughties.

Housing in England 2004/05 shows a rise of 20% in the number of households renting privately between 2000 and 2005 – from 2 million to 2.4 million. The number of households buying with a mortgage fell by 2.3% to 8.3 million over the same period and the decline of social housing continued with a 7% fall to 3.7 million.

The commentary accompanying the full report sees three main reasons for the rise in private renting:

‘(a) the continuing rise in property prices has forced younger people to remain longer in the private rented sector; (b) increasing numbers of people are looking to buy an additional property for their pension portfolio; and (c) the advent of the Buy-To-Let mortgage has made it easier to finance these types of purchase. In truth, private investors were buying property to let long before the advent of the Buy-To-Let mortgage, but its creation has probably encouraged more aspiring landlords to go down this route.’

The effect of this was most marked on younger people. Between 1993 and 2005 the proportion of households aged 25 to 29 fell from 60% to 50% while the proportion renting privately rose from 19% to 34%.

To download the full report go here.