The study was carried out by BDRC Continental on behalf of the buy-to-let specialist and found that the number of landlords reporting tenant demand as either increasing slightly or significantly stood at 39% for Q1, up from 34% in Q4 2015.
A further 36% of landlords described tenant demand as ‘stable’.
The survey also reported high levels of tenant satisfaction with nearly eight in 10 tenants analysed saying they are satisfied with their current landlord.
John Heron (pictured), director of mortgages at Paragon, said: “The rise of the private rented sector and the decline of the social housing sector have been the predominant trends in the UK’s changing housing tenure over the last 20 years. This data gives an interesting insight into how both tenants and landlords perceive these trends.”
He said the sector often suffers from negative publicity and the good work done by the vast majority of landlords to provide homes for those who cannot, or do not want to buy, goes unremarked.
The study said that 85% of tenants considered their current rental property to be their ‘home’ and 69% believe the level of rent they pay to be ‘good’ or ‘very good’ value for money.
The average length of time tenants are spending in their current properties now stands at nearly seven years, while the average length of time spent renting in total was reported to be nearly 13 years.
