Comparison service the Tenant Shop and software provider VTUK are teaming up to host a Twitter debate on the rising cost of renting.
The social networking site is becoming a popular place to host live debates and you can express your views on this subject at 11am on June 8.
The debate will look at whether the extra Stamp Duty charges will affect renters and whether housing will become more or less affordable.
Some property professionals have already expressed their views.
Steve Griffiths, head of sales and distribution at Kensington, said: “With buy-to-let Stamp Duty rises now in effect and further tax changes on the horizon, the situation for renters could worsen if these increased costs are passed on to tenants.”
Another expert, Martin Totty, chief executive of Barbon Insurance Group, argues that the extent of the changes remains to be seen:
He said: “We will have to see whether landlords try to pass their higher costs on and whether tenants are able to afford further increases in rents. There has been little to alter the fundamental relationship between demand and supply, especially in those parts of the country where demand-side pressure is greatest.”
The conversation comes as Office for National Statistics data for April showed private rental prices grew by 2.8% in England, 0.2% in Wales and 0.5% in Scotland in the 12 months to April 2016.
Rental prices increased in all the English regions over the year to April, with rental prices increasing the most in London at 3.7%.
Over the same period, average weekly earnings grew by just 1.8%, showing just how tough times are for everyone with bills to pay.
You can get involved on June 8 by using the hashtag #QuestionTribe
Comments (3)
It is simple economics that rents cannot continue to rise at a rate ahead of salaries. So either salaries match out or the rents stagnate. I am sure the answer to which it will be may feature highly in the debate. Looking at the European market which developed the letting model ahead of the UK, there are marked pockets of rental decrease away from the big cities where salaries are keeping pace.
Seriously are they having a debate on something that is a given?
Who in this country thinks rents are set to become more affordable? I despair.
The rising cost of renting is having a significant impact on individuals, and families. A rise of more than the average cost of wages gradually eats away at people’s lifestyles, and, that there is no security in renting.
Private renting has a limited role in the market, but not as it is at the moment. There needs to be a whole series of legislative changes to shift the business model of private renting. Stamp duty and tax is one of them, to ban tenants paying fees will be the next, genuine security of tenancy must be introduced to achieve equality. After all, a mortgage company does not evict an owner occupier because they want to sell their house, and this is not as daft as it sounds, as it would have been a solution back in 2008/2009 for the likes of Northern Rock to have resolved it’s financial crisis.
There should be no difference, and then a sustainable private rental market can be achieved for long term investors.
I have been served three section 21s, I know exactly what it is like as a tenant.
And I work as a genuine property professional.