The Revival of Private Landlords in Britain’s Post-Homeownership Society

TLDR

Homeownership has declined in favor of private renting in developed English‑speaking countries, sparking debates about a new “generation rent” of younger people excluded from home‑buying. The study examines the role of landlords, rather than tenants, in providing housing‑asset access to mitigate economic and welfare precarity. Survey data reveal a surge in small‑time landlords and multi‑property ownership among middle‑aged, affluent households, reflecting a shift toward housing as a commodity asset amid changing welfare and pension expectations.

Abstract

Homeownership has been declining in favour of private renting in most developed English speaking countries since the early-2000s. Public debates in countries like Britain, Australia and the US have subsequently focused on the ostensible coming of age of 'generation rent', constituted of younger individuals excluded from home buying and traditional routes to housing asset accumulation. While the focus of this paper is the significance of access to housing assets as a means to offset potential economic and welfare precarity, our concern is landlords rather than tenants. Drawing on British survey data, we show that the rental boom has been accompanied by increasing multiple property ownership among classes of largely middle-aged and relatively affluent households. Over one-million small-time landlords have emerged in the last decade alone, who, we argue, are part product of historic developments in housing markets and welfare states. Generations of British have not only been orientated towards their homes as commodity assets, they have also begun to mobilise around multi-property accumulation in a context of shifting welfare and pension expectations.