Following yet another challenging year for the private rented sector, a seminal ‘State of the Lettings Industry’ report will reveal how agents, landlords and tenants feel about the current status of lettings and its future.

Goodlord and Vouch’s State of the Lettings Industry report is set to be published in full on 13 September.

The survey has taken the temperature of more than 2,600 agents, landlords and tenants. But initial insights from the report reveal that 80% of agents are worried about the impact of the recession and the cost-of-living crisis on the private rental sector.

This is the first major market survey to take place since the government’s White Paper on rental reform was published. Today, initial insights from the report have been released.

This year’s survey will also reveal that many agents are predicting a rise in arrears, with 35% of agents saying they expected the cost-of-living crisis to have a “major and negative” impact on tenants.

Another serious and ongoing concern which appears to have intensified over the last 12 months is the issue of lack of stock. The State of the Lettings Industry report shows that two-thirds of agents – 65% – struggled with a lack of stock in the past year.

Perhaps more worryingly, however, is that 28% of all agents surveyed have seen more than 10% of their landlords leave the sector in the past year.

And the vast majority – 67% – said they expected more of their landlords to leave in the coming year.

However, despite these concerns being likely to dent industry optimism going forward, currently a quarter of agents surveyed – 26% – say they’re pessimistic about the future of the lettings industry, while 43% are still feeling either “very optimistic” or “somewhat optimistic” about its future.

Tom Mundy, COO at Goodlord, commented: “The upcoming State of the Lettings Industry report is our biggest and most in-depth to date. As the initial findings show, there are a range of things causing serious concern across the sector. Whilst the pace of lettings remains intense and the market buoyant, various macroeconomic and regulatory factors are cause for concern.

“Although these are yet to materially dent optimism amongst agents, landlords and tenants. We hope that the full report released on the 13th will provide a range of useful insights to the market at a time of increasing uncertainty for all stakeholders.”