Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the benefits to the economy of the private rental sector.

We have not made an assessment to quantify the contribution of the private rented sector (PRS) to the economy. We recognise that the PRS plays an important role on providing homes to over 4 million households in England. The Government is committed to delivering a package of reforms to ensure the PRS can operate effectively and meet the needs of both tenants and landlords.

The PRS supports labour market mobility, allowing households to move easily both within and between regions, leading to a more efficient allocation of labour and skills. This is due to the relative ease with which renters can give notice and sign new tenancies, and the relative lower costs of moving, when compared to owner-occupier house sales. A key part of our future PRS reforms is to ensure the flexibility of private rental tenancies is retained, whilst balancing increased security for those tenants who need and want it, alongside driving an improvement in the quality and standards of PRS accommodation.

In addition, the Build to Rent sector continues to attract investment with analysis by Savills estimating that approximately £1.2 billion was invested into the UK’s Build to Rent sector during the first quarter of 2021.