Briefing: the need for stable renting in England

Private renting used to be seen as a stopgap. It has struggled to shake its image as short-term housing for students, people who travel around for work and young people still trying to get on the housing ladder. But the number of people privately renting has ballooned in recent years. In the last decade it's doubled in size, as more and more people have been priced out of home ownership or unable to get a social rented home.

While short-term private lets may have been suitable in the past, this new generation of private renters want stable, long-term housing. Almost 9 in 10 renters say that being able to stay somewhere for the long-term is an important consideration when they are looking for a home. Despite this overwhelming demand for long-term housing, a stable home is something that the English private rented sector is least able to provide. Only 29% of renting families haven't moved in the last five years. This briefing provides the evidence that supports the case for a change in the law to make renting more stable.