The latest English House Survey published by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), showed that 3.4m households were living in privately rented accommodation in 2009/10, up from 2.4m in 2005/6.
Private renting as the main tenure rose from 12.7% to 15.6% over the same period, while owner occupiers in England dropped from a peak of 14.8m in 2005/6 to 14.5m in 2009/10.
Grenville Turner, chief executive of Countrywide, said: “We have seen a 37% increase in new tenant applications during 2010 with 4.5 tenants vying for every available property. We are now beginning to see a shift in attitude, as a whole new generation is growing up choosing to rent for the longer term.
He added: “Record levels of tenant demand and a severe shortage of stock in the private rental market is a national issue which needs addressing.”
Stephen Smith, director of housing & external affairs at Legal & General, said that tight lending conditions and house building diving to its lowest level since 1924 in 2009, has impacted the housing market.
He said: “Constrained mortgage lending results in people having fewer choices about where they live and their form of occupation, and the similar difficulties for house builders in funding their developments is probably resulting in considerable pent up demand.
“Unless more homes are built, then when the economy returns to better health and consumer confidence recovers, we run the risk of house price inflation taking off again,” he explained.
The survey also showed that social renters paid on average a rent of £75 per week in 2009/10 and private renters paid £153 per week.
In addition, around 62% of social renters received Housing Benefit compared to 24% of private renters.
The report also showed that in 2009/10, 1.8m households had moved into their current accommodation in the previous 12 months. This was 200,000 less than in 2008/09, and 600,000 less than in 2007/08.
The DCLG said that the reduction was almost all in the owner-occupied sector.
