The proportion of older people in the private rented sector (PRS) has increased in the last 10 years, the Office for National Statistics’ English Housing Survey has found.

It states that the proportion of people aged 45 to 54 in the living in the PRS grew from 11% in 2010 to 2011 to 16% in 2020 to 2021.

The proportion of this cohort classed as owner occupiers fell from 74% to 65% over the same time frame.

And, the report continues, the proportion of people aged 55 to 64 living in the PRS went up from 6% to 11% across the same period, with owner occupiers going from 79% to 70%.

However, the rate of owner occupiers aged 65 and over moved up during the last decade, from 76% to 80%.

Overall, numbers in the PRS fell in the last half decade or so. In 2015 to 2016, 20% of households rented privately, which has since fallen to 19%.

“Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the proportion of private rented households was steady at around 9% to 11%,” the ONS adds.

Self-Employed Mortgage Hub founder Graham Cox says: “Nearly one in six 45 to 54 year olds now live in private rented accommodation, up from one in nine a decade ago, which is a sobering figure.

“This is presumably due to high property prices and insecure employment.”

On the subject of energy efficiency, a hot topic for many, the ONS says: “The energy efficiency of the English housing stock continued to improve.

“In 2020, the average SAP rating of English dwellings was 66 points, up from 65 points in 2019. This was evident in all tenures apart from private rented dwellings where there was no significant increase.”

The English Housing Survey is a wide-ranging document that also tracks first-time buyer (FTB) behaviour and affordability.

The report also found that in the last three years, the proportion of FTBs using savings to purchase rose significantly – from 76% to 91%, while at the same time, the proportion that used a gift or loan from family or friends moved in the opposite direction – from 39% to 23%.

And single person households are on the rise in this category too – in 2019 to 2020, 39% of FTBs bought in their own name rather than with a partner. This increased to 48% in 2020 to 2021.

The proportion bought with a partner fell from 60% to 48%, meanwhile.

Regarding affordability, the survey discovered that mortgagors spend 18% of their household income on payments, social renters spend 27% and those in the PRS spend 31%.

Over the last decade the proportion for mortgagors and social renters stayed the same while those in the PRS saw their spending fall from 35% to 31% of their household income.

“This steady decline in the size of the PRS over the last five years should act as a warning sign to the UK government in that more needs to be done to protect the sector especially at a time when rented homes are need more than ever,” says Propertymark chief policy adviser Mark Hayward.

He continues: “The PRS has a crucial role to play in levelling up our country and communities as we work to recover from the ongoing effects of the pandemic, but in recent years, landlords have faced considerable legislative change meaning many are choosing to leave the market.”