The trend of private landlords buying flats in the major cities to rent out is continuing to grow, according to latest figures from the statistics agency CBS.

The number of privately owned properties that were converted to rental accommodation increased to 100,000 in 2017, compared to 62,000 the previous year. In 2017 73,000 rental properties were sold, meaning the sector grew by a net 27,000.

One-fifth of the properties converted to rentals was in one of the four largest cities, according to the CBS.

The figures found that in nine out of ten cases rental properties were sold to private buyers, rather than companies or housing corporations.

Private landlords were most likely to be in their thirties or forties and tended to buy houses or apartments at the low end of the price range.

The development has caused concern that first-time buyers and people on low incomes are being shut out of the housing market by private landlords. Research by the University of Amsterdam and the Catholic University of Leuven found that the number of buy-to-let purchases increased by 75% between 2006 and 2016, accounting for 5.8% of all sales.