There has been a significant increase in the proportion of landlords planning to purchase family-focused housing, Paragon has reported.

The buy-to-let mortgage provider’s Trends research shows the types of property landlords are looking to invest in during the third quarter of the year are more suited to meet the needs of families moving into the private rented sector (PRS).

Of those landlords planning to purchase during the quarter, 41% (up from 28% in Q2) are looking to invest in semi-detached houses and 22% (up from 9% in Q2) are looking to buy a detached property.

Paragon’s research shows that a significant proportion of landlords are letting to families and this looks set to increase during the coming months. With increasing strain on the social housing sector, a constrained owner-occupied mortgage market and continuing wider economic difficulties, more families are looking to the PRS as their tenure of choice, the lender suggests.

Paragon’s research shows that landlords let to a range of tenant types across their portfolios, with families a popular tenant choice. 45% of landlords have families as tenants, making them the fourth largest tenant type. Over half of landlords let to young couples (55%), with 52% letting to professionals and 50% to young singles.

Nigel Terrington , Paragon Group chief executive, said: “It is interesting to see more families relying on the PRS