Most Landlords Don’t Plan to Increase Rents

A new study by house and flat share site SpareRoom.co.uk, which has triggered a number of hysterical headlines in the press, has shown that the majority of UK landlords do not intend to increase rents in 2015.

55% of landlords said that they will keep their rents the same, while 5% say they will lower rents. However, all the attention has been focused on the 40% who said they plan to increase rents. Over a quarter (27%) said they plan to increase rents by more than 3%.

Buy-to-let investors could well see an increase in mortgage costs next year, as interest rates are expected to rise in the second half of 2015. Matt Hutchinson, director of SpareRoom, said, “While the majority of landlords do all they can to hold on to good, reliable tenants, those facing increased mortgage repayments when interest rates rise may have no choice than to cover the extra cost by passing it on to their tenants.”

A separate poll of 3,000 tenants found that 56% would be forced to move into cheaper accommodation if their rents were increased  by more than £40 per month.

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