Nearly four out of 10 landlords believe that tenant demand will rise this year, according to a study by high-profile buy to let lender Paragon.

Specifically some 37 per cent of landlords expect tenant demand to grow during 2020 compared to just 7.3 per cent predicting a fall.

The forecast comes on the back of a strong end to 2019, with 27 per cent of landlords experiencing an increase in tenant demand during the final quarter of the year.

“Although home ownership is increasing on the back of government policies, there is clearly still growing demand for rented property for a variety of reasons” according to Richard Rowntree, Paragon’s managing director of mortgages. 

“We expect to see tenant demand to continue to increase in the coming years and it’s important the private rented sector is adequately financed to ensure tenants have a good choice of property and rental inflation is kept under control.”

The government’s recent English Housing Survey found that the number of households privately renting has remained unchanged at 4.6m, or 19 per cent of all housing tenures.

However, the length of time households are staying in private rented property is increasing, from an average of 4.1 years to 4.4 years. 

The report also found that over the past decade, the proportion of 55 to 64 year-olds in private rented accommodation increased from seven per cent to 10 per cent.