In the past ten years, two million homes have changed tenure, according to recent research from Countrywide.
Most of the properties, 1,550,000 homes, have gone from being owner-occupied to the private rental sector.
The remaining 550,000 have changed from rental sector homes to owner-occupier properties.
The study also found that 700,000 new homes, built since 2005, are in the private rental sector.
Director of Research at Countrywide, Johnny Morris, comments on the findings: “The rapid growth of the private rented sector has to come from somewhere. While the tenure may change, the physical home remains. The sector has been growing since 2005, but the number of homeowners has fallen in each of the last ten years.
“This scale of shift in tenure shows that the current push from the Government to increase the number of homeowners is unlikely to be enough to reverse the decline.”
He continues: “Although landlords and first time buyers might not appear natural bedfellows, because they tend to look for similar types of homes, they do end up selling to each other.
“Many landlords face a choice ten to 15 years after buying a home, between refurbishing the property or selling it. Those landlords who choose to sell up offer an opportunity to first time buyers willing to put some work into their first home, often adding to its value.”1