A third of new rental properties put up for let are being agreed before the existing tenant moves out, reveals Countrywide letting agents.
The firm found that the average UK rental home is let within 32 days, which is the shortest time on record.
Countrywide found that so far this year, 33% of all new lets were agreed while the property is still occupied, up from 27% in 2014.
The average rent price agreed while tenants are living in the property is 105% of the asking rent, an average of £35 a month more.
Comparatively, tenants moving into an empty property negotiate an average of £21 a month off the asking rent price.
In the capital, 51% of all new rental properties coming onto the market are agreed while the home is occupied, up from 41% last year. Contrastingly, just a quarter of new lets are agreed before the existing tenant moves out in the North East of England.
When an agreement is made before the tenant leaves the property, there is an average of just six days between the existing renter leaving and the new one moving in.
In one-in-ten cases, a new tenant moves in on the day that the existing tenant moves out.
If a property has not been let before the tenant leaves, the first week of marketing is when a landlord is most likely to achieve the highest rent.
During the first seven days of marketing, the average rent is agreed at the full asking price. This figure drops the longer the property is on the market.
Most potential tenants view a property in the first weekend after it comes onto the market. In London’s booming market, however, twice as many lets are agreed on a weekday than in any other part of the country.
Research Analyst at Countrywide, David Fell, says: “In larger rental markets, more new lets are being agreed well in advance of the current tenant leaving.
“As a result, we’ve seen void periods fall with a growing number of landlords having a new tenant lined up over a month before their existing tenant leaves. While leaving some time for maintenance between tenancies is advisable, increasingly, there’s just a matter of hours between a tenant moving out and one moving in.
“In more competitive markets, the first tenant to view a home is often willing to pay a small premium to ensure the landlord takes the property off the market and that no further viewings take place.”1
1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/properties-being-let-within-shortest-time-on-record/