Letting agents are facing huge changes to the rental sector as it evolves from a short-term option for younger tenants into a long-term tenure for families, according to the Resolution Foundation.

While this trend has been ongoing for some time, last year the think tank found that 3.2 million children are now living in privately rented homes, almost triple the 1.1 million recorded in 2000-01, with around 23% of them living in rental properties, compared to 22% of working-age adults, reflecting how much the sector has changed.

Doubled in size

The figures also show Britain’s private rented sector has more than doubled in size since the turn of the century, growing from 5.1 million people in 2.5 million households to 12.9 million people living in 5.1 million households.

Hannah Aldridge (pictured), Senior Research and Policy Analyst at the Resolution Foundation, says that while renters in their 20s remain the age group most likely to rent privately, the greatest growth has occurred among those in their 30s.

The proportion in that age group that lives in the PRS has risen from 10% in 2000-2001 to 28% in 2024-2025.

Aldridge adds that more than a quarter of under-1s now live in privately rented homes, with increasing numbers of families remaining in the sector for longer periods.

The private rented sector is less a pitstop on the way to home ownership or a social tenancy – and more a permanent home.”

“For a growing number of people,” she says, “the private rented sector is less a pitstop on the way to home ownership or a social tenancy, and more a permanent home.”

She also points out, though, that one of the effects of the changing renter profile is an increasing focus on standards and stability across the sector, with one-in-six private renters saying their housing situation is not secure enough for them to make long-term decisions.