Does it really matter who owns the housing for rent? As long as they are providing suitable well maintained accommodation at a reasonable price.
One could, however, question whether so many people buying property to supply themselves with an income after retirement didn't distort the market somewhat If a few people do it - no problem - but if many did it, prompted by interest rates falling to such low rate, it could well have contributed to the rise in house prices. Just as foreign investment and ownership is judged to have contributed an additional 20 per cent.