When Patrick Osborne became a landlord in 2001 he was taken aback by how many friends and acquaintances condemned him. "I'm not going to pretend I fell into it by accident. I made an active decision to do it for income and pension planning. But I was surprised by some of the reactions I got and the level of vitriol towards landlords. I'd only ever had good experiences as a tenant, so this shocked me."

Osborne – data manager at a retail bank's HQ – moved to the UK from Australia in 1995 and thinks this may, in part, account for his surprise. "There isn't the same issue about it in Australia. It's a polarising issue in Britain, and I'm really glad I'm not part of it any more."

At first, Osborne, who is 40, single and lives alone, was happy to be a landlord. "I took the responsibility seriously. If you don't have gas and electricity safety certificates and there's an explosion you're going straight to jail. And rightly so. But there could still be a fire and someone could die, even if it's not your fault. I was always aware of that."

He became a landlord when he moved from his first house in New Cross, south-east London, which he bought for £95,000 in 1999. Rather than selling, he decided to rent to students.

"I liked the idea of offering it to young people who wouldn't normally want to buy at that stage of life. I didn't charge the most the market would bear, just enough to make me a steady income, as well as capital appreciation. It was mainly for my pension. I had other pensions but, as I'd changed jobs two or three times, there were lots of bitty ones; this was something solid."

Like hundreds of thousands of other landlords who jumped on the buy-to-let bandwagon, Osborne could happily have held on to his property, or bought more, using the equity he has built up.

But he had a major change of heart, prompted by the continuing rise in house prices, in London at least, and the lack of supply of homes for younger families.

"I wouldn't describe myself as left wing but, increasingly, I feel housing provision in Britain is deeply unfair. The only reason I could buy when I did, and become a landlord, was down to luck and timing. I couldn't afford the house I'm living in if I had to start now.

"I didn't really need the rental income as I already earn a good salary. And, basically, my views changed.

"I think housing provision should be more regulated and not a free-for-all. It's not nice to profit from someone else's need to sleep somewhere. I think it's wrong some landlords have strings of properties. It restricts supply, and tenants have very few rights, or aren't aware of rights they do have.

"You hear all kinds of horror stories, such as three months' rent in advance, or houses let out that aren't safe but if tenants say anything they're evicted. A landlord can always replace them. It's wrong. I don't want to be part of that, even in my small way, and I like to think I was a good landlord.

"We all make compromises with our principles but I was getting more and more uncomfortable defending mine."

Osborne says he was also appalled at tax breaks he received. "I was quite surprised by how much I could set against tax and that was without hiring a flashy accountant, so I probably could've claimed more. The tax rules were, believe me, very generous."

When Osborne decided to get out, he gave his tenants six months' notice – the law only requires two – and sold his house for £230,000. It was a handsome profit even after capital gains tax, which he used to pay off most of his current mortgage.

Osborne bought his first house when he was 28 and became a landlord at 30. It's a very different picture for today's under 35s. A survey last week showed what most of us know anecdotally – far fewer young people can afford to buy now. The 2012 HSBC Moving Home Survey revealed a growing number of young people don't want to own a home, which is a reverse in home ownership aspirations of this age group.

Meanwhile, 61% of people aged 55 and over aren't planning to move. The generational divide in the UK property market is likely to cause housing stagnation in 2012, with young people unable to buy, and older homeowners unwilling to sell, the report concluded.

This is further backed by HM Revenue and Customs, which this week reported house sales fell last year to one of the lowest ever recorded at 869,000. Further falls are expected this year as the economy remains weak.

But others say 2012 could see the return of the first-time buyer. This week saw the launch of the government's NewBuy Guarantee scheme designed to help buyers over the obstacle of high deposits. Mainstream lenders are also making more 95% deals available, and offering better prices on longer-term fixed rate mortgages. This week Chelsea building society launched the lowest-ever interest rate for a five-year fixed rate mortgage, pegged at just 3.19%.

But there is no sign Osborne is sparking a trend towards quitting among buy-to-let landlords. In 2001, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, 72,200 buy-to-let mortgages were granted, rising to 346,000 in 2007. The figure dropped to 94,600 in 2010 – the last full year figures are available. But the trend is firmly back up, says Sue Anderson, CML spokesperson. "Demand for private rented housing is high and set to remain so. The rising demand for renting makes it likely the buy-to-let market will continue to grow."