reluctant landlord
n. A person who is forced to rent his house because he is unable to sell it.
Examples
2010
When Ray Frye put his Lewis Center home on the market for $245,000 earlier this year, he hoped to get offers for at least $235,000….Frye instead joined the growing club of reluctant landlords, homeowners who rent out their home after failing to sell it.
—Jim Weiker, “No sale? Homeowners try renting,” The Columbus Dispatch, October 03, 2010
2010
Rents are jumping up as more and more potential home buyers opt to rent," said David Newnes, LSL's estate agency managing director….Furthermore, the huge number of reluctant landlords we saw renting out property last year have now had the opportunity to bank their gains and sell up.
—“Rents 'at highest for two years' as landlords sell up,” BBC News, September 17, 2010
1981 (earliest)
In the current climate, it's little wonder that many homeowners are becoming reluctant landlords. After trying to sell their three-bedroom house on Constitution Avenue NE for a year and a half, Frank and Judy Prunella decided to move out and rent the place to a White House aide who came to town with the Reagan administration.
—Howie Kurtz & Lewis M. Simons, “Tight Money Strangles Housing Dreams,” The Washington Post, September 27, 1981