Landlords earned £112bn last year from rent and rising house prices, according to a study out yesterday from Kent Reliance.
The total value of their assets is up 11 per cent on the year to £990.7bn – just shy of £1 trillion. London’s private rental sector is worth £406.5bn, up £50.7bn on the year.
As a result, the UK’s rental property market is worth 43 per cent of the value of the stock market, up from 12 per cent 15 years ago. The increase comes as house prices rose 7.5 per cent on the year, and more investors put money into the sector.
Between capital gains and rental income, the average property earned its owner £24,221 in the last year.
The average rent increased by 3.9 per cent to £832 per month.
But as the number of renting households has also increased, the total amount of rent paid in the year rose 7.2 per cent to £46.8bn.
London accounts for 36.3 per cent of that rental bill, with tenants in the capital paying a total of £17bn.
“Long-term price inflation is not in danger, given the gaping chasm between growing demand for housing and the number of houses being built each year,” said Andy Golding, chief of Kent Reliance’s parent OneSavings Bank.