Landlords impose “worrying” rent hikes on tenants as demand rises

by:
  • 23/09/2021
  • 0
Landlords impose “worrying” rent hikes on tenants as demand rises
Landlords are imposing “worrying” rent increases on tenants for the second month in a row as renter demand rises but the stock of available homes declines.

 

Almost 80 per cent of letting agents said landlords increased rents in August up from 71 per cent the previous month, according to the Association of Residential Letting Agents Propertymark.

This is the highest rate increase on record, beating the previous record of 68 per cent in May this year for a second month running.

The average number of new prospective tenants registered per branch jumped in August to 107 from July’s figure of 102, also marking a record for the second consecutive month. The last time renter demand exceeded current levels was in August 2020 when the figure stood at 101.

At the same time, the average number of available properties to let fell from 204 in July to 196 in August.

The demand and supply imbalance has weakened tenants’ bargaining powers with just 0.4 per cent of tenants successfully reporting rent reductions in August down from 1.1 per cent in June.

Propertymark’s chief executive Nathan Emerson said: “The continued increase in demand from tenants, coupled with the decreasing amount of rental stock available means we are seeing a worrying increase in rent prices for the second month running.

“The private rented sector provides homes for approximately five million UK households and it is vital the service being provided by landlords is recognised. With the increasing pressure, more landlords need to be incentivised into the sector.”

There are 0 Comment(s)

You may also be interested in