Landlords collectively have over £500bn invested in buy-to-let properties, more than the value of all privately owned commercial property put together, a report said this week.
The research estimated that homes in the private rental sector were worth up to £530bn, outstripping the value of all privately-owned offices, shops, hotels, factories, warehouse and leisure facilities,
which are collectively worth £503.88bn.
Th
e report, by Prof Michael Ball, of Reading University, said the value of rental property looked set to continue to outstrip that of commercial premises, as house prices are expected to rise quicker than commercial property prices over the long-term, in spite of the current market downturn.
Rents are also set to rise significantly in the short-term, increasing by between 10 per cent and 15 per cent both this year and next year.
But in spite of rising rents and claims that buy-to-let investors have pushed property prices beyond the reach of many first-time buyers, Prof Ball said the sector actually helped to stabilise the housing market, as it accommodated people who by this stage in the cycle would be overstretched and facing rising levels of negative equity if they had bought their own place.
He said a re-run of the 1990s crash, when problems with negative equity prolonged the housing market recession, was less likely to happen this time as a result of the more developed rental sector.
The report was carried out for the Association of Residential Letting Agents.
It revealed that it was now feasible for younger households to rent decent accommodation on a scale that was impossible for older generations.
That was contributing to a delay in the age at which people bought their first home.
The number of people renting is expected to increase by about three per cent a year, although in some regions of the country, such as London and the surrounding area, growth is likely to be stronger than that.
The full article contains 339 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
