Demand for rental property has hit its highest level so far this year, but supply has failed to keep up, letting agents report.
ARLA Propertymark’s July Private Rented Sector Report – based on responses from 191 members – shows that the number of new prospective tenants registered per branch increased from 71 in June to 79 in July, the highest level so far this year.
It matches the previous high reached last September.
However, the supply of available properties moved in the opposite direction to demand, falling from 191 in June to 184 last month.
There are also reports of fewer tenants experiencing rent increases, with the proportion of tenants seeing hikes falling from 35% to 31% between June and July.
David Cox, chief executive of ARLA Propertymark, said: “Buy-to-let investors are being pushed out of the market by increasing costs and continued regulatory change, and new landlords are being deterred from entering.
“Last month, an average of four landlords took their properties off the market per branch, up from three this time last year – and as supply falls, competition among tenants increases, which pushes up rent costs.
“Almost a third saw their rents rise last month, and although this figure was down from June, it’s still far too high. To put tenants back in the driving seat, we need more homes available to rent, and the only way this will be achieved is if the Government makes the market more attractive for buy-to-let investors.”
Precisely what government want despite the fact they claim to be helping tenants
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I still can’t figure out what their endgame is though. They don’t have enough social housing for all the people looking for a home, and most of those looking for rentals either don’t have the provable income to purchase, or don’t have a deposit.
So what will happen to them? I just can’t quite figure out what they are hoping to achieve…
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rising rents and less competition for the BTR brigade aka Tory Party donors (who also dish out lucrative non-exec Directorships to minister when they stand down).
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In other news, water is wet.
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“However, the supply of available properties moved in the opposite direction to demand, falling from 191 in June to 184 last month.
There are also reports of fewer tenants experiencing rent increases, with the proportion of tenants seeing hikes falling from 35% to 31% between June and July.”
I don’t understand how that works – surely if demand is high and supply is low, rents would be increasing – especially in view of the tenant fee ban approaching?
Unless loads of rents were increased late last year as a knee jerk to the threat of the TFB and it’s too soon to do it again.
Also not entirely sure what ‘putting tenants back in the driving seat’ means, but it doesn’t sound like a good thing to me.
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I’d suggest that the rent rises being recorded are on those being advertised or have been agreed on new tenancies. It’s the long-term tenants that have never seen rents rise (because generally full-time landlords don’t increase rents on sitting tenants), that are being hit first. I have always had the policy up till S24 where the rent agreed at the beginning of a tenancy is the rent for as long as someone stays. I’m now reluctantly increasing rents to cover the extra tax, though tenants are being made very aware of the cause for it.
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This Government is so catastrophically hopeless I don’t believe there is “an endgame”. They stumble from one ridiculous rule change and “improved” legislation initiative to the next, stealing polices from other political parties in the process, all the while paying greater attention to the lefty twerps at “we don’t provide Shelter” and listening to the musings from the idiots at Generation Rant. Its only a matter of weeks before Treason May gets the push and in the reshuffle we’ll get yet another new Housing minister. They have no idea what they are trying to achieve, but in the process are making life more unnecessarily complicated for Landlords.
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It kind of makes me wish that Housing Minister was a job you could apply for. And have to interview and prove you have the knowledge and experience necessary to perform the role. I’d apply. Almost certainly wouldn’t get it but at least then I would know there was someone more qualified than me making decisions!
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I understand that’s how it works in Canada. You don’t get a job in Parliament unless you have relevant experience. The way we do thing here still baffles me. If a major corporation wanted a Finance Director the criteria for the post would be very demanding, with definite relative experience showing you can do the job. Yet we can appoint a history graduate as Chancellor, whose little commercial experience included folding towels for a department store. Is it any wonder we’re in such a ****** mess?
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How do I move to Canada?
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