Number of rent increases slowed in November

Number of rent increases slowed in November

10:24 AM, 18th December 2019, About 4 years ago 1

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ARLA Propertymark has released its November Private Rented Sector (PRS) Report.1

 Rent prices

– The number of tenants experiencing rent rises fell by 18 percentage points in November with 32% of lettings agents witnessing landlords increasing them compared to 50% in October.

– This is the lowest figure since March when the number stood at 30%.

– However, year-on-year, this figure is up from 21 per cent in November 2018, and 16 per cent in November 2017 [Figure 1].

Demand from tenants

  • Demand from prospective tenants fell in November with 67 registered prospective tenants per member branch, down from 72 last month. 2
  • Demand from prospective tenants has now fallen for the third consecutive month.

Supply of rental stock

  • Last month, the number of properties managed per branch rose marginally to 203 from 201.
  • Year-on-year supply is also up from 183 in November 2018 and 192 in November 2017.

David Cox, ARLA Propertymark Chief Executive, said: “It’s good news for tenants that rents have fallen this month. However, demand for properties has also dropped. The ongoing uncertainties of Brexit and the General Election have caused people to hold off on their property search until some political clarity is reached, which has led to this fall in demand.

“Now that the election has brought some political stability, tenants will likely be looking for properties again and the new Government must recognise the importance of making the market attractive for both tenants and landlords. They must be very careful about reforming Section 21 which could cause supply to plummet, and if it is to be abolished, Section 8 must be reformed first and a new specialist Housing tribunal created. Without this, supply will almost certainly fall which will have the consequential effect of raising rents.

“Further, the Government should seek to reassure tenants by implementing the recommendations set out by the Regulation of Property Agents (RoPA) working group; something we have long called for. These are substantial changes, but it’s important that the Government ensures everyone in the industry is qualified and adheres to a strict code of practice.”

Notes:

1 Opinium Research carried out an online survey among 284 ARLA Propertymark members from 29 November to 11 December 2019. ARLA Propertymark Protected letting agents were surveyed on a number of key rental sector issues including supply and demand, the management of BTL properties, and monthly rent prices. www.opinium.co.uk

2 Based on new option ranges, so comparisons beyond April 2017 unavailable


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Comments

Michael Barnes

22:01 PM, 21st December 2019, About 4 years ago

Can you stop reporting this meaningless drivel unless access is given to the underlying data, and in particular the questions asked on which the report is based.

From the report it seems that 32% of agents have reported that at least one (but we do not know how many) landlords have increased rent in the month.

That is then, erroneously, stated (in the graph) to mean that 32% of tenants have experienced a rent increase in the month.

This is clearly rubbish because each month the reported % is 20 or greater and that would mean that the average tenant experiences 2.4 or more rent increases per year. That, I understand, is unlawful. And even if the average tenant had the statutory minimum 6 month tenancies with a rent increase each time, that would only be 2 rent increases per year.

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