Census 2021 – Private rented sector growth

The number of households living in the private rented sector (PRS) has grown by 1.1m in ten years across England and Wales. At 20% of households, this is up from 17% in 2011.

All regions have recorded growth in the PRS since the last census in 2011. The regional increases have ranged from 2.6% to 4.9%

Over the last 10 years, Greater London has recorded the largest increases in the size of the PRS. Both in terms of the absolute number of extra households and the change in the proportion of households living in the PRS.

The City of London saw the largest increase in the proportion of PRS households (+12.6%) followed by Salford, Greater Manchester (8.1%).

Source: Dataloft, Census 2011 and 2021