Who wants to be a landlord? Turns out, a lot of people. Private equity, hedge funds and other investors have been raising and setting aside money – as much as $8bn by some estimates – to scoop up individual US homes at low prices and rent them. Last week, Silver Bay Realty Trust, a property investment trust focused exclusively on single-family rentals, was listed. Apartment buildings have already been the purview of institutional investors and real estate investment trusts, but renting individual homes has traditionally been left to the locals.

Doing it nationally, like Silver Bay, is a new type of venture – as the company freely admits. With larger scale, there is potential for savings from things such as buying insurance in bulk. Sadly, there is also the risk that maintenance costs exceed expectations: even a modest portfolio of 100 houses means 100 lawns, 100 roofs and so on. Yet large investors see opportunity in combining supply of cut-rate homes available through foreclosure and short sales, with rising numbers of renters, including those who have lost homes, credit standing or jobs in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

As of September 30, Silver Bay had 2,500 properties in areas severely affected by the housing bust, such as Arizona, Nevada, Florida and California. It was renting a portion of them for $1,137 a month, or $13,644 a year, on average. With an average purchase price of $121,600, the gross yield comes to 11 per cent.