More than 700,000 people now live in rented accomodation.
The latest figures from the Private Residential Tenancies Board show that 10,000 people a month are moving into rental properties.
According to the
, the total is just under 700,000 - compared to 455,000 in December 2013.A housing supply shortage and stricter mortgage rules are being blamed for the increase.
Bob Jordan, chief executive of the housing organisation Threshold, said with a shortage of housing supply, the figures are not surprising.
"If you look back to 2006, we built close to 100,000 properties … last year it was down to about 11,000," he said.
"At the same time, there's been a collapse in the social housing market - local authority housing just can't be found."