TENANTS ARE EXPECTING TO PAY MORE
Friday, March 25th, 2011Over half of tenants (52.6%) are expecting to pay higher rental prices over the next 12 months, as stock shortages worsen.
According to Rightmove’s latest rental survey, the worst shortages are in London and East Anglia, with tenant demand ‘insatiable’.
The report said that the rental sector is creaking under the strain of demand from people who, in normal markets, would be buying.
Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove, said: “Letting agents in many areas are reporting an insatiable demand, with prospective tenants coming from all backgrounds and requiring all types of property.
“Those traditional tenants that are leaving the family nest are increasingly being joined by those that can’t sell or get a mortgage to trade up, putting unprecedented pressure on the rental sector of the housing market to provide homes to rent on most rungs of the property ladder.
“Such demand inevitably creates supply shortages and pushes up the cost of the rented roof over the tenant’s head.
“In spite of the country’s economic hardship, the desire or need for suitable accommodation is set to further test the elasticity of tenants’ purse strings.”
He added: “With lenders not singing the same tune as many hopeful property purchasers, housing aspirations are like a broken record, continuously stuck in the groove of high deposit requirements, rising rents and challenging economic factors. The result is an over-crowded and increasingly under-stocked rental market.”
Rightmove questioned over 3,000 people for the survey in January.
RICS surveyors have also said they expect rising rents.
