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Rental increases slow but tenants remain under pressure – Landbay

by: Edward Murray
  • 13/03/2017
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Rental increases slow but tenants remain under pressure – Landbay
The pace of rental increases is slowing, but peer-to-peer buy-to-let lender Landbay fears tenants are unlikely to feel any relief.

According to the latest Landbay Rental Index, average rent increases across the UK have slowed to 1% over the last 12 months, the lowest annual rate since 2013. In London, average rents actually went down, dropping by 0.53% over the last year.

Looking at the home nations individually, rents in England (excluding London) went up by 1.92% over the last 12 months. In Wales the figure was 1.37%, while in Scotland it was 1.26%, and in Northern Ireland it was 0.47%.

However, despite slowing rental increases, John Goodall (pictured), chief executive officer and founder of Landbay, said tenants would still come under pressure in the years ahead.

He said: “While it may seem as though we are starting to see some much-needed relief for renters, the cost of renting a property remains a huge burden for the 4.3 million people in the private rented sector across the UK, especially in London where average rents are significantly more expensive than the rest of the country.”

He continued: “Although this could give the impression that the market is beginning to turn a corner, this is a situation that is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future. Demand for rented accommodation will remain robust over the coming months and years and continue to stoke up rental values, as rising house prices, falling wages and rising inflation dampen the ability of aspiring homeowners to save for a property of their own.”

Lobbying for the government to relieve some of the pressure faced by tenants hoping to get onto the housing ladder, Goodall added: “The Chancellor’s decision not to raise the Stamp Duty threshold in this month’s Budget was yet another blow for first-time buyers, so it’s important that we now see some clear follow through to the promises made in the housing white paper to ease at least some of the pressure on Generation Rent.”

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