Dwindling mortgage deals to create more accidental landlords?
As lending restrictions and a stagnating housing market make home ownership increasingly difficult, a growing number of people could turn to the private rented sector both as tenants and landlords.
Speaking at a recent Council of Mortgage Lenders conference in London, the organisation's new director-general Paul Smee explained that the homes market has changed significantly since the recession and it is now much more difficult to buy a home or move up the housing ladder.
He claimed that the days mortgage lenders handing out 'imprudently generous' mortgages were over.
Mr Smee added: "That implies a period during which first-time buyers and those hoping to move up the housing ladder save the necessary extra equity, low transactions and a fall in the share of owner-occupiers."
As a result, renting is likely to play a growing role in the make up of the UK housing market.
"Our assumptions of a stable housing market will have to embrace all forms of tenure and not assume that stability can only come with ownership," said the director-general.
If Mr Smee's predictions prove accurate, not only is there likely to be an increase in people renting accommodation, there could also be a rise in 'accidental landlords'.
These are people who, unable to attain a decent price for their home due to the current state of the housing market, decide to rent it out instead.
This trend is being further fuelled by rising rental yields resulting from increasing demand from tenants, making renting out a property a potentially lucrative venture.
Commenting on Mr Smee's remarks, Matt Griffiths, from the first-time buyer campaign group Priced Out, told the Daily Mail: "Unless you have wealthy parents or are very highly paid, renting is the new normal. The ladder of home ownership is being pulled out of your reach."
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