The British government should help councils build homes for long-term private rent rather than engaging in politics over affordable housing and home ownership, a report by leading developers and councils says.
The Making Rent Viable report calls on ministers to create formal planning guidelines to make it cheaper for developers to build homes solely for rent.
At the moment, constructing homes expressly for rental purposes is more expensive than selling off properties as soon as they are built.
The report, published by law firm Addleshaw Goddard, says the private rental sector has doubled in size in the past decade.
It says councils can harness long-term rental income by building private-rental homes on public land.
A formal covenant of rental provision for a minimum number of years should be created to guarantee a long-term supply of rental homes while helping to assuage the fears of councils that developers could quickly sell off properties.
Among other measures, the report argues for private rental quotas in each local authority area to "reduce the potential political backlash against building for private rent".
Marnix Elsenaar, planning partner at Addleshaw Goddard, said planning guidelines needed to be stronger, and financial viability models needed to reflect the fact that building for long-term rent wasn't the same as traditional housebuilding.
"Policymakers need to appreciate that if they get this right they could unlock a model that provides thousands of new homes with real long-term community benefits," Mr Elsenaar said.
