Rightmove Rental Forecast for 2013

Rightmove have released their forecasts for the private rental market for 2013.

The following is a summary report and their full report can also be downloaded from here.

Summary of the Rightmove Rental Forecast for 2013

• Rents to rise 2% in 2013, tempered by majority of landlords planning rent ‘freeze’
• 61% of existing landlords plan ‘rent freeze’ for 2013, the clearest indicator yet that landlords will opt for a lighter foot on the ‘rent rise accelerator’ next year
• Just one in four (25%) of existing landlords intend to put rents up in 2013, and of those only around a third (35%) plan a raise of more than 5% – the result is likely to see the annual rate of growth ease to circa 2%

• Landlords becoming increasingly mindful of tenants’ ability to meet rising rental demands, heightening risk of arrears and voids:
• More than a fifth (22%) of current tenants pays 50% or more of their take-home pay on rent as ‘affordability ceiling’ comes into view
• Rental headroom reduced as average rents have increased by 13.6% since 2009 as demand continues to outstrip supply
• Composition of UK landlords includes many who are perhaps more sympathetic to tenants’ rental price worries – one in four is an ‘accidental landlord’
• Pressure on rental demand set to remain as many tenants unable to escape rental trap – 59% would like to buy but can’t afford to do so, the highest Rightmove has ever recorded