Posts with tag: rental demand

Central London property market optimism remains high

Published On: September 19, 2016 at 11:30 am

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Categories: Property News

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Demand is continuing to outstrip supply in Central London, with one firm suggesting there could be reasons for optimism in the capital during the coming months.

Greater London Properties believe that constant demand is giving reasons positivity in the sector.

Rises

Rightmove has seen an increase of 13% in property searches during 2016, with the opening six months of the year seeing more visits to the portal than in 2015. Rental stock has also seen a surge of 270,000 properties, a rise of 11.6% year-on-year.

Rob Hill, of estate agency Greater London Properties, expressed his positivity about the future. Hill said: ‘the advantages of working in rentals and sales in Central London is we are able to see changes made by external factors like Brexit and Stamp Duty almost instantly and can respond equally as quickly. Adopting a wait and see approach is a very traditional method. Agents need to value realistically, something that hasn’t been happening for a long while now. Plus managing vendors’ expectations is incredibly important and daily/weekly feedback on viewings including applicants reactions can help achieve this.’[1]

Central London property market optimism remains high

Central London property market optimism remains high

‘Since Brexit there has been a noticeable drop off in the percentage of properties actually going through to exchange however there are buyers out there with the confidence to buy at the right price and the usual investors returning to market after the summer months.’[1]

Our sales properties that were under offer prior to Brexit and post result had fallen through, have all gone back on the market and been sold within days – 80% of them actually went for higher than the previous offers on the table.  It’s an extremely optimistic market in my opinion, for both vendors and landlords alike,’ he added.[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/optimism-in-central-london-property-market-remains-high.html

 

One in Four Letting Agents Witness Rent Rises

Published On: November 24, 2015 at 10:14 am

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One in Four Letting Agents Witness Rent Rises

One in Four Letting Agents Witness Rent Rises

One in four letting agents reported that they witnessed rent price rises in October; the lowest number recorded this year.

The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) found that the amount of letting agents experiencing rent increases dropped to 25% in October from 32% in September.

Agents have also reported a decrease in demand, with an average of just 33 new tenants registered per branch, again the lowest number recorded this year. Supply of available rental homes has also dropped, although this is a typical trend for this time of year.

As is expected, the London market is still experiencing high demand, with 42 prospective tenants per branch in October, up from 39 in February. Supply of rental accommodation fell from an average of 182 properties per branch in September to 173 in October.

Prospective tenants in the East of England and the South West have more properties to choose from, with agents seeing an increase of homes to let. In October, agents in the East managed 199 properties and those in the South West had 184 up for rent.

Managing Director of ARLA, David Cox, expects to see similar trends next year: “We’d hope to see the number of tenants experiencing rent hikes remain low with supply and demand levelling out. However, a lot is resting on the economic and political agenda.

“We’re still waiting for new houses, promises by the Prime Minister, to be built. Whilst this will take pressure off the rental prices as supply rises, the changes to landlord tax proposed under the Finance Bill is likely to discourage new landlords from entering the market.”1

However, separate research by franchise firm Belvoir reveals that the average rent price has risen by just 3.5% since the third quarter of 2008.

Director of Belvoir, Dorian Gonsalves, comments: “Clearly the market is far from spiralling out of control in terms of rental increases, although this has been repeatedly suggested in media reports.”2

Have you put your rent prices up recently? And what are your plans for the coming year?

1 https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2015/11/tenants-putting-the-brakes-on-rent-rises-warns-arla

2 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/one-in-four-letting-agents-reporting-rent-rises/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t Forget Generation Rent, CBI Urges

Published On: May 2, 2015 at 12:36 pm

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The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is warning that renters could be forgotten, as the housing debate seems to be focusing more on ownership. CBI estimates that one in five households will be privately rented by the year 2018. As a result, they believe that £57 billion worth of investment in the private rented sector is necessary to meet this demand.

Support

CBI Chief Policy Director Katja Hall, suggests: “While it’s right to support first time buyers, we must make sure people who rent are not forgotten.”

She says: “The rental sector offers huge opportunities for growth and more large-scale institutional investment is needed.”

Hall believes: “A VAT reduction on repair and renovation would help push investment decisions over the line.”[1]

Don't Forget Generation Rent, CBI Urges

Don’t Forget Generation Rent, CBI Urges

Initiatives

The CBI has outlined a number of initiatives that they believe will sufficiently benefit renters. These include:

  • Speeding up the complete roll-out of the Private Rented Sector Guarantee Scheme.
  • Councils having to outline their plans on tackling rising demand for accommodation.
  • Utilising the buy-to-let fund to show how private rented sector investment provides profitable returns.
  • The introduction of build now, pay later schemes to quicken up land use.
  • Changing legislation to find a balance in protecting tenants and not creating too much work for landlords.

The confederation believes that the amount of people residing in the private rented sector will continue to thrive, due to three main areas:

  • Population growth.
  • Inflated prices of housing due to lack of supply.
  • The cost of living.

[1] http://www.rman.co.uk/latest-news/article/employers-plea-not-to-forget-generation-rent

 

 

Rent Demand Falls

Published On: February 25, 2013 at 4:00 pm

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Categories: Landlord News

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Research has revealed that more than one third of landlords in the buy-to-let market have disclosed that the demand for rentable properties, from tenants, is easing after a long period of high demand.

About 35% of landlords have said that the amount of renters looking for properties is now at its lowest since the second quarter of 2012.

That figure, however, is a national average, with buy-to-let demand still reported as high in London and the East of England.

The area with the lowest level of demand for rentable properties is Yorkshire and Humberside.

Despite the decrease in people looking for properties, landlords have stated to mortgage lender BM Solutions, who conducted the survey, that they believe that prospects in the private rented sector are still good.

Rent Demand Falls

Rent Demand Falls

This view is regardless of other findings in the study, that revealed that yields are falling as property prices increase. Also, rents that tenants are prepared to pay remain static.

The average gross ROI for the third quarter of this year was 6%, a drop of 0.1% from the previous quarter.

This is also a national average, with landlords in the North East reporting gross returns of 6.7% and landlords of Yorkshire and Humberside saying their gross yields are now 5.7%.

BM Solutions’ Head of Sales, Phil Rickards, says that despite these figures, an increasing number of landlords are now investing in buy-to-let properties. He believes that they see them as an excellent long-term investment.

Most landlords admit that they are entering this sector in attempt of boosting their pension funds, and investing in property is safer than putting their money into stocks and shares.

Mr Rickards explains: “There is confidence in the UK property market.”1

More than half of landlords, 53%, are also pushing up rents for new tenants with most claiming that they raise rents in a bid to match local prices, the survey found.

Voids are also a growing problem; after 36% of landlords said that their buy-to-let was empty during the last quarter.

The void rate has seen a slight increase of 3% compared with the second quarter. However, the average length of a void has decreased by five days, to 64 days.

The greatest number of voids has been reported by landlords in the North East, alongside the lowest occurrence stated by landlords in the South East.

There is good news, however, in regard to the number of landlords reporting that their tenants are in arrears, which has now fallen to its lowest in three years. The average amount of rent owed by tenants is now £1,532, down by £358.

1http://www.accommodationforstudents.com/view_landlord_guides.asp?id=1445