Exceptional demand continues in the UK’s private rental sector, new figures from estate agency firm, Countrywide, show. In the three months to the end of September, tenant demand per property increased 10.8% compared to a year earlier, having shot up by almost 12% since the summer. The group, which operates across 1,300 branches, also recorded [...]
tenant demand
Private rented sector running out of space
The UK’s private rented sector is rapidly running out of space, with new tenancies having hit sky-high levels over the past year. According to latest research from the Association of Registered Letting Agents (ARLA), 74% of its 6,000 members have experienced record tenant demand in the past 12 months, with London and the south leading [...]
High demand and low interest rates bolster landlord confidence
Today’s high rents have bolstered landlord confidence, with 49% of buy-to-let investors thinking now is a good time to invest (up from 47% a year ago), and 68% of landlords expecting tenant demand to grow in the next 12 months. According to new research from lettings agent network, LSL, average rent has regained its all-time [...]
Private rental voids continue to fall
The average void period in the UK’s private rented sector has fallen for three consecutive quarters, according to buy-to-let mortgage specialist, Paragon. In the first quarter of 2011, strong tenant demand reduced the average annual void period to 2.8 weeks, with the figure having steadily declined from a high of 3.5 weeks in the Spring [...]
Early signs of improvement in property market
February saw some signs of improvement in the UK residential housing sector, with buyer, tenant and mortgage demand increasing, according property services group, Countrywide.
Property viewings increased by 40% across the group’s network of 1,300 estate agency and lettings offices, and the number of house sales agreed also rose 47%, when compared with January, although sales [...]
RICS: rents increase rapidly
Strong tenant demand resulted in rents rising rapidly in the three months to the end of January, according to the latest Residential Lettings Survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
Forty per cent more chartered surveyors reported rising rather than falling rents, the highest positive reading in the survey’s history.
A shortage of mortgage [...]
Tenant arrears rise as rent increases loom
The UK’s private rental sector saw tenant arrears rise to almost 12% of all private rent in December, up 2% compared with a month earlier, according to the latest survey from property group, LSL.
Total arrears, estimated at £276 million, were at their highest since December 2009, with rising unemployment likely to drive the figure into [...]
Solid outlook for buy-to-let lending
In its outlook for 2011, Paragon is predicting that landlord finance will be more readily available as the year progresses.
The buy-to-let mortgage specialist is expecting gross lending to finish the year between 10% and 15% above 2010 levels, as the number of lenders and products increase.
According to the firm’s chief executive, Nigel Terrington, strong tenant [...]
