Claims that landlords are fleeing England’s PRS aren’t supported by the latest evidence, according to new analysis.

Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s report finds that the sector continues to grow, although at a much slower rate than in previous decades, while ownership is increasingly being consolidated among larger and incorporated landlords.

Government estimates show the PRS passed five million homes for the first time in decades in 2025, adding about 45,000 homes a year on average since 2021. Meanwhile, the English Housing Survey estimates that 4.7 million households were privately renting in 2024/25 – the highest figure on record.

However, the politically independent anti-poverty think tank’s analysis challenges the use of landlord surveys, property sales and falling rental listings as evidence that the sector is shrinking. It says these measures often capture landlord churn rather than a net loss of rental homes, while falling listings can also reflect tenants staying in properties for longer.

Fewer

Average tenancy length has increased from 3.5 years in 2013/14 to 4.7 years today, meaning that fewer properties naturally come back onto the market each year. JRF admits there is evidence of significant change within the sector as the number of individual, unincorporated landlords fell slightly from 2.91 million in 2023/24 to 2.88 million in 2024/25, while new letting-company incorporations reached 67,000 in 2025 – more than six times the number recorded in 2015.

The group’s report also finds that larger landlords are becoming more prominent with the share of those owning one or two properties fell from 57% to 50% between October 2024 and October 2025, while those owning 11 or more increased from 5% to 8%.

JRF adds that while there is substantial unmet housing need across England, this doesn’t necessarily mean the PRS needs to expand. “If owner-occupation and social renting grew fast enough, absorbing unmet housing demand and outflow from private rentals, then demand for private rentals would be reduced even as the sector’s growth slowed or contracted - the resulting housing system would likely do a much better job of meeting the genuine housing needs of the population.”

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