Never had it so good

The 40 per cent rise in private renting in the past 20 years represents a huge reversal of events during the previous 80. The history of private renting suggested that it would play only a marginal role (at best) in the 21st century. Private renting looked set to become obsolete as home ownership dominated the market, and social housing was restricted to those unable to buy.

But a century ago, the great majority of people in Britain and other industrialised nations rented homes from private landlords. The oft-quoted figure of 90 per cent in 1914 is only an estimate that has gained credibility by repetition. No-one really knows the true rate.

What is not in dispute is that most families rented privately, even if they were in a position to buy. Being a home owner was not the be-all and end-all that it became at the end of the 20th century.

The characters created by Dickens and other Victorian novelists have encouraged us to think of 19th century landlords as rapacious and hard-nosed parasites living off the poor. There is some truth in that view. But the fact that the majority of the well-off middle-class chose to rent privately shows that it is only part of the picture – rented properties couldn’t all have been bleak houses.