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Regulatory Failure in the Private Rented Sector

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Housing Law and Policy

Part of the book series: Macmillan Law Masters ((MLM))

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Abstract

A sea-change has occurred during the twentieth century in the tenure of property. At the start of the century, around 90 per cent of the population rented privately. In 1995, this had fallen to around just 10 per cent. Most of this decline has occurred in the latter part of this century. Indeed, only around 600,000 properties were lost to the sector between the start of the two wars (from 7.2 million to 6.6 million). In the 1930s, new building for private renting was as high ‘as it had been in the two decades before 1914’ other than during the boom at the turn of the century (Holmans, 1987, p. 407). The sector currently makes up just over 2 million properties. This has not coincided with a period of benign neglect — indeed, at times, attempts to revive the sector have engaged wide debate, a considerable number of official committees, as well as disparate legislation. It is the failure of such legislation which concerns us in this chapter.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bristol, UK

    David Cowan (Lecturer)

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  1. David Cowan
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© 1999 David Cowan

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Cowan, D. (1999). Regulatory Failure in the Private Rented Sector. In: Housing Law and Policy. Macmillan Law Masters. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-14643-7_3

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