Demand for Rental Property Increasing

A report from the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) has found an increased demand for rental property at the beginning of 2015. The report, conducted among ARLA members, covering around 85,000 properties in the UK, found that 27% of letting agents have seen their landlord clients increase rents since the start of the year. Only 4% saw a decrease.

The largest proportion of landlords increasing their rents was found in the East of England, with just over one third (35%) of lettings agents reporting an increase in the new year. It was a different story in Wales, with only 11% of landlords increasing monthly rent.

ARLA’s new Private Rented Sector Report is designed to track month-to-month trends in the lettings market. The rise of rents, ARLA say, is down to greater demand for rental property. High house prices combined with strict mortgage lending criteria has made renting more attractive than buying for many people.

Although rents have broadly risen across the UK, rent increases have barely exceeded inflation over the last five years, according to a recent study by one of the UK’s largest estate agents. Their figures show that, in inflation-adjusted real terms, rents have increased by only 0.6% per annum over the last half decade.

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