The revival of private rented housing in Britain

The paper examines private renting in Britain since 1988. It discusses the supply side response to rent deregulation, the temporary provision of tax incentives, and the property slump. The first section reviews the decline of private renting, its causes and implications. The second section describes the government's objective in reviving private renting, its methods and the wider context. The third section sets out some of the consequences of rent deregulation. The fourth section reviews evidence about the supply side of the private ranted sector since deregulation, and the final section assesses the implications of the research findings for future policy.