Mortgage lenders and letting agents are celebrating the 15th birthday of buy to let.
Buy to let was born at a meeting of letting agents and lenders at the plush RAC Club, Pall Mall, London on September 24, 2011.
Present at the birth were representatives of the Association of Letting Agents, the Council of Mortgage Lenders and several other lenders.
In 15 years, buy to let has surged in popularity and sparked controversy in the housing market.
First time buyers blame property investors for purchasing affordable homes and mortgage lenders were blamed for overheating the housing market by granting loans to easily to fund the expansion of buy to let portfolios.
Buy to let has also spawned the fast growing student shared house sector and other investment opportunities like let-to-buy and fly-to-let.
Let to buy is when a landlord rents out their home when moving on.
Fly to let is buying overseas property to rent out, mainly to holidaymakers.
Property investors now own 3.9 homes in England and house 15.6 per cent of all households - up from 2.1 million homes housing 10.1 per cent of households in 1996.
Nigel Terrington, of Paragon Mortgages, one of the lenders in at the birth of buy to let, said: "Buy-to-let has galvanised the rental market over the past 15 years, whilst providing an attractive asset class for property investors.
“Buy-to-let finance was the catalyst for the revitalisation of the modern private rented sector. The flow of fresh capital modernised a tired and decaying sector, driving up standards of accommodation and choice for tenants.
"Its importance will increase in future years as population growth and housing completions diverge. More people are choosing to live in rented accommodation and we must ensure that they have a private rented sector that remains fit for purpose. The future strength of the buy-to-let market will be central to that."
Over the years, the value of outstanding buy-to-let loans has risen from £5.4 billion in 1999, which was the first year data was recorded, to £154.5 billion. Buy-to-let accounts for 12.4 per cent of all mortgages.
Terrington added: "The private rented sector makes a great contribution to the UK economy - it facilitates labour mobility and flexibility, provides an income to thousands of small businesses, supports a number of associated industries, such as letting agents and maintenance companies, oils the wheels of the housing market and makes a great contribution to the public purse."
