Since 2000, the number of rented properties has risen from 1.8m to 3.9m, reflecting the shift in housing tenures England is currently experiencing.
Conversely, the number of properties in the owner-occupied sector fell from 14.9m in 2009 to 14.8m last year, the lowest since 2000.
Paragon chief executive, Nigel Terrington, said: “The increase in PRS homes is fuelled by a combination of landlords buying property with cash and buy-to-let mortgages, people letting out homes they have inherited and homeowners deciding to let their property.”
The mix of people renting has become increasingly diverse and no longer dominated by students and young professionals, he added.
“Further growth is needed as tenant demand is clearly exceeding supply and to avoid a greater squeeze on the PRS, landlords need to be encouraged to invest in their portfolios going forward,” he said.
The latest Council of Mortgage Lenders figures suggest buy-to-let mortgage lending increased by 21% in Q2, with 32,000 loans agreed between April and June.
Remortgaging accounted for 65% of those loans, although the market is currently running at around one third of the levels seen at the peak of lending in 2007.
