met by tenant demand as improvements in the quality of the rental stock made being a tenant a viable option. In 2014 Electrical Safety First and Shelter released a joint report examining current electrical conditions in the private rented sector. The report found that sixteen percent of renters have experienced problems with electrical hazards in the last year alone. The report calls for mandatory five-yearly checks of electrical installations and electrical appliances supplied with private rented sector properties by a competent person. Economic and social change Of equal importance to the changes in legislation have been the economic and social changes that took place over the next decade. The recession which lasted from 1991 to 1992 reduced the appeal of home ownership as a complete solution for housing need, and the impact of unprecedented levels of arrears, possessions and falls in value remain etched on the national consciousness. More recently, social changes, especially an increase in student numbers, old age pensioners (OAPs), greater labour mobility amongst young people and a rise in immigration, added to the demand for rented accommodation, causing a second growth period. With local housing authorities unable to expand council rented housing to fill the gap and limited funding for housing associations, the newly reinvigorated private rented sector expanded in response to demand and grew by 27 percent in the 15 year period to 2004. In 2010, the British government ran a large scale survey of the private rented sector and analysed the social and economic spread of private landlords. Some key findings were: 89 percent of landlords were private individual landlords responsible for 71 percent of all private rented dwellings, with a further 5 percent of landlords being company landlords responsible for 15 percent of dwellings. More than three quarters (78 percent) of all landlords only owned a single dwelling for rent, with only 8 percent of landlords stating they were full-time landlords. Over three-quarters (77 percent) of all dwellings in the private rented sector were purchased by landlords, 9 percent were inherited, and 8 percent were built by landlords. 51 percent of all dwellings had been acquired since 2000, 25 percent in the ten years between 1990 and 1999 and 24 percent prior to this date. A mortgage was used when acquiring 56 percent of dwellings in the private rented sector, with personal savings being the next most common means of finance used to acquire