The UK’s private rental sector sits at almost £1.4 trillion pounds, according to the latest research by buy-to-let specialist, Sequre Property Investment.
Sequre Property Investment compiled data on the number of current private rented dwellings across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, before looking at the total value of these rental portfolios based on current property values.
There are an estimated 5.5 million privately rented homes across the UK, accounting for 19 per cent of the entire property market.
With the current average UK house price now at a giddy £254,624, this puts the private rental sector bricks and mortar value as high as £1.4 trillion.
England is home to by far the largest private rental market with 4.8m homes within the sector.
This places the total value of the English rental market at £1.3 trillion based on the current average house price of £271,434.
London accounts for a notable 40 per cent of this total market value, with the 1,042,000 rental homes located in the capital valued at nearly £519 billion alone.
The East of England (£154 billion) and South East (£234 billion) are also home to some of the most valuable rental markets, with rental stock in each region estimated to be worth more than £150 billion.
Outside of England, Scotland ranks as the second most valuable rental market from a property standpoint, with the 371,000 privately rented homes worth nearly £64 billion on the market today.
In Wales, this current rental market value stands just shy of £38 billion, with the Northern Irish private rental market valued at nearly £18 billion.
Sales director at Sequre Property Investment, Daniel Jackson, says: “The private rental market is the backbone of the UK housing sector and plays an incredibly important role in providing homes for those that are unable to overcome the financial hurdles associated with homeownership.
“Despite this, we’ve seen a number of legislative changes implemented to deter landlords from the sector by a government that clearly has no idea what they are doing.
“While it may only account for 19 per cent of the total market, reducing the size of the sector would leave many struggling to find an alternative option with regard to their living arrangements.”
