The increasing number of private landlords is stopping first-time buyers getting on the property ladder, a report has claimed, reporting in inside housing
A study from public policy think tank The Strategic Society Centre has examined the wealth of private landlords and their impact on the housing market.
It found the number of private landlords as a proportion of the UK population has doubled in the last two decades, while the number of people renting privately has soared from 2 million in 2000 to 3.6 million in 2010/11.
The report argues the wealth of private landlords means first-time buyers struggle to compete for homes. It found the average property wealth of private landlords is £489,598 and financial wealth is £75,103. Average financial wealth for renters is £9,506.
James Lloyd, the director of the think tank, said: ‘The government champions “aspiration” and getting people onto the property ladder. But the last decade has seen the unending growth of the private rented sector, with more and more private tenants trapped renting seeing their dreams slip away.
‘The government should urgently bring forward plans for new home building and shared-ownership schemes.
‘But building new homes will never be enough for the government to help people’s aspiration for homeownership without new restrictions to ensure that new build homes go to new homeowners.’
The report suggests a moratorium on buying new build homes with buy-to-let mortgages, a cap on the proportion of buy-to-let mortgages a lender can issue, and rules to stop short term tenancy agreements being drawn up on homes that are less than three years old.