New research from RentGuarantor, based on a survey of 2,006 current and former renters carried out in March, reveals that attitudes towards renting are improving, with 41% saying it has become more positive in recent years. This includes a majority of younger tenants, suggesting it may be a generational shift rather than just a short-term response to market conditions.<\/p>\n
Neither is the change purely circumstantial. Around 30% now actively choose to rent because it suits their lifestyle, while 43% say it works well for them at their current stage of life.<\/p>\n
The report also reveals there has been a broader reappraisal of renting\u2019s role. 88% of respondents said renting fits modern lifestyles better than it used to, reflecting changing expectations around mobility, work and living patterns. Flexibility remains key, with 83% agreeing renting offers more freedom than ownership and 35% citing it as one of the main reasons for staying in the sector.<\/p>\n
Practical advantages are also underpinning demand. Location is one of the strongest drivers, with 56% saying renting allows them to live in areas they would not otherwise be able to afford, while 62% reported renting homes they could not buy with a mortgage.<\/p>\n
Over half of tenants (54%) also highlighted the appeal of not being responsible for maintenance and repairs, along with the ability to move more easily when circumstances change.<\/p>\n
This shift is not just confined to younger renters. While 54% of those aged 18\u201329 report a more positive view of renting, the research also shows demand across older cohorts, with 29% of over-60s saying they would prefer to rent rather than buy. That broadening demographic base suggests the private rented sector is evolving beyond its traditional role as a transitional tenure.<\/p>\n
There are also signs that renting is becoming a long-term tenure for a significant minority, with around 30% of respondents saying they could not see themselves ever buying a home.<\/p>\n
Affordability still plays a major role, with 77% identifying cost as the biggest factor when choosing a rental property. However, the findings indicate that financial constraints are increasingly being weighed alongside lifestyle considerations, rather than acting as the sole driver.<\/p>\n
Overall, the data points to a structural shift in attitudes to renting rather than a purely short-term change, which is a positive sign for the stability of rental demand in the years ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
High purchase costs, tighter mortgage affordability, and deposit requirements are continuing to limit access to homeownership, meaning a growing proportion of tenants are actively choosing to rent rather than being forced into it. New research from RentGuarantor, based on a survey of 2,006 current and former renters carried out in March, reveals that attitudes towards… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4233,"featured_media":20047,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[59,2,765,766],"tags":[712],"class_list":["post-6107634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending-news","category-buy-to-let-landlords","category-property-investment","category-uk-rental-market","tag-rental-market"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6107634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4233"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6107634"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6107634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6107635,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6107634\/revisions\/6107635"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6107634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6107634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6107634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}