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Private Rented Housing: Migration

Question for Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

UIN HL3046, tabled on 28 November 2024

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of large net migration on the private rented sector.

Answered on

10 December 2024

The Government will ensure the immigration system is fair and controlled, while also being clear that net migration must come down.

The factors affecting supply in the private rented sector are complex and difficult to disentangle. As well as demographic change, they include house prices, rent levels, taxation policy, interest rates, and the movement of tenants into homeownership and social rented housing. While it is not possible to isolate the specific impact of each of these factors, it is important to recognise that the size of the private rented sector has doubled since 2002 to now be the second largest housing tenure. 4.7 million households rent privately, which is equivalent to 19% of the housing market – a figure which has remained relatively stable since 2013/14.

However, the Government recognises that the housing crisis we have inherited means that demand is currently outstripping the supply of properties available to let. This is why we will build 1.5m homes over this Parliament by taking bold action to reform our planning system, deliver a new generation of New Towns, and deliver the biggest increase in affordable housing for a generation.