The country's biggest property developers and investors will hand Housing Minister Caroline Flint a report at today's British Property Federation (BPF) annual conference which offers both ministers and troubled home builders a lifeline in bringing vital investment into housing.

While the report, 'The Future of Renting', is a response to a government review of rental, the report calls for a radical reshaping of the housing market that would ease the burden by ensuring renewed investment to see new properties come forward, saving thousands of jobs.

Ian fletcher, Residential Director at BPF, said: "We're in a ridiculous position where we have increasing demand yet house builders are stepping out of the market because they have nobody to sell to.


"If we had a corporate rental sector here as they do in Europe, it would not only mean continued investment and thousands of extra new homes, it would also ensure that the major house builders had someone to sell their stock to and that the public had the benefits of a branded rental sector."

With buy-to-let expansion killed off by the credit crunch, developers want a housing sector to mirror the commercial property market which could see long term lets and thousands of new family homes built by institutions, like pension funds.

It would help the wider market by increasing supply and ensuring the same level of choice that consumers have in every service industry apart from housing.

Liz Peace, Chief Executive of BPF, said: "Caroline Flint has shown acute awareness of the situation and is clearly keen to work with the industry. The government has a great opportunity here, because councils already have the powers to do what is needed.

"The expansion of buy-to-let is dead for the time being and the only place we will find the kind of cash we need to build new homes is with the large, long term investors. Rental is up to 40 per cent cheaper than ownership, but if ministers don't take action, we could see rents rise by a third and cost the same as mortgages. The focus here has to be on the big issue, ensuring that tens of thousands of households of people are able to have a home, without any need for public spending."

(CD/JM)