Call for rent controls as smaller landlords quit the PRS

Smaller landlords are leaving the private rented sector, but their departure is not reducing the number of homes available to rent, an analysis reveals.

According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, claims that the PRS itself is shrinking are not supported by the evidence and rent controls should be introduced without delay.

It says England now has a broadly flat or modestly growing number of privately rented homes owned by a smaller number of larger landlords.

The private rented sector passed five million homes in 2025, despite reports of landlords selling up or reducing their portfolios.

The data shows around 45,000 homes a year have been added since 2021, far below the 200,000 annual increase recorded between 2005 and 2015.

Landlord exodus challenged

JRF’s senior analyst, Joseph Elliott, said: “Claims that the private rented sector is shrinking aren’t supported by the evidence.

“This matters because these claims have been used to argue against vital legislation that protects renters from no-fault evictions, from living in unsafe homes and now from unaffordable rent increases.”

He added: “Instead, we see a broadly flat, or modestly growing, number of rented homes owned by a smaller number of larger landlords.

“Rent controls would give them security and stability, and they should be implemented without delay.”

Company landlords expand

JRF says 67,000 new landlord limited companies were established in 2025, compared with around 50,000 in both 2022 and 2023.

That was more than six times the 10,000 companies created in 2015 and, according to the foundation, more than double the net fall in individual landlords reporting rent income by 2024/25.

Company landlords were also more likely to say they intended to expand, with 27% planning growth compared with 5% of individual landlords.

Among professional property investors, that figure rose to 84%.

New landlords replace sellers

Landlord purchases exceeded sales in June 2026 for the first time since 2019, accounting for 10% of purchases against 9.2% of sale listings.

JRF argues those figures still miss homes entering the PRS without being bought specifically as investments, including former owner-occupied properties and inherited homes.

It says 38% of landlords converted a home they had originally bought to live in, while another 7% inherited or were gifted their first property.

Meanwhile, the average tenancy has lengthened from 3.5 years in 2013/14 to 4.7 years, which JRF says helps explain why fewer homes are appearing in new listings.