Young to power coming buy-to-let explosion says report

Posted: 18 Oct 2006 11:59:10 GMT

The number of buy-to-let tenants in the UK is set to expand by between 20,000 and 30,000 every year for the next ten years, a new report has claimed

The number of buy-to-let tenants in the UK is set to expand by between 20,000 and 30,000 every year for the next ten years, a new report has claimed.

Most of the growth will be powered by soaring numbers of young people renting throughout their 20s and 30s.

The report, by the University of Reading, found that the number of mortgages approved for new owners has fallen from 55 per cent to 36 per cent since 1994.

While much media attention has fallen on problems of affordability, the rise of buy-to-let has had positive effects, noted the Association of Residential Lettings Agents (ARLA). (Arla)

The sector has had an unprecedented affect on inner city residential regeneration and the increased competition means that the standards of rented accommodation are high.

Combined with lifestyle issues and an increasingly mobile population the changes mean that more people than ever before are choosing to rent rather than commit to a property.

"The benefits of renting appeal particularly to young mobile people," claimed Nicholas Marr of Homesgofast.

"Changing lifestyles, affluence, employment patterns and financial circumstances have combined to encourage more younger people to rent rather than own their homes, as they may have done in previous decades."

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