Rate of rent increases continues to rise
ARLA Propertymark is today issuing its September Private Rented Sector (PRS) Report.
Rent prices
Year on year, the number of tenants experiencing rent hikes continued to rise. Almost a third (31%) of renters saw their payments increase in September 2018, compared to 27% in 2017 and 24% in 2016
Looking at shorter term trends however this figure is down; in August this year, agents reported a record-high for the number of rent rises for tenants (40%).
Demand from tenants
Demand from prospective tenants fell marginally in September, with the number of house-hunters registered per branch dropping in 63 on average, compared to 64 in August.
Year on year, this is down 20 per cent as there were 79 prospective tenants registered per letting agent branch in September 2017.
Supply of rental stock
As landlords continued to leave the market, the supply of properties letting agents managed dropped to 194 per member branch in September, from 197 in August.
David Cox, ARLA Propertymark Chief Executive, said:
“Although the number of landlords increasing rents for tenants dropped in September, this figure is still alarmingly high, and it continues to rise year on year. Increasing costs and continued regulatory change is pushing buy-to-let (BTL) investors out of the market and deterring new ones from entering. An average of four landlords took their properties off the market per branch in September, up from three this time last year – and as supply falls, competition among tenants increases, which is driving up rent costs. With the Autumn Budget approaching, we hope the Government recognises the importance of increasing supply for tenants and uses it as an opportunity to make the market more attractive for BTL investors.”
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Member Since July 2013 - Comments: 1434
12:29 PM, 26th October 2018, About 7 years ago
“Almost a third (31%) of renters saw their payments increase in September 2018”
What does this mean?
Is it
– “31% of renters surveyed had a rent increase in September” or
– “31% of renters surveyed in September had a rent increase in the previous 12 months”?
Or is it something else entirely: number of agents reporting rises?
Or something else?
Member Since February 2016 - Comments: 1056
2:06 PM, 26th October 2018, About 7 years ago
As Michael points out, these statistics are somewhat ambiguously presented or, at best, not precisely explained. I wonder how they square with the recent DPS figures showing a national reduction in rents, albeit small, over the past year. One reason for the discrepancy might be that ARLA figures are of course based on data from letting agents so take no account of the rents charged by the many landlords who self-manage. Whatever the reason, it is evident that regional variations in trend are so great as to render national aggregates meaningless. The experience of many landlords in the south east suffering voids and falling rents is the direct opposite of what I see locally.