Significant Increase in Available Rental Properties

According to the latest quarterly report by the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA), the level of supply in the private rented sector, although still heavily outweighed by demand, is beginning to show signs of improvement. The average number of buy-to-let properties managed by ARLA Licensed members went from 135 properties in Q3 to 148 in Q4 – a quite impressive 10% increase.

This increase has been driven by landlords investing more in buy-to-let properties. In a reversal of the trend seen in the previous quarter, the number of landlords purchasing properties now exceeds the number of landlords selling properties. Landlords adding to their property portfolios increased from 27% to 30%, while those looking to sell their buy-to-let investments dropped nine percentage points, from almost a third (32%) to less than a quarter (23%).

Despite this positive news for tenants, competition for private rented sector properties is still far from mild, with 65% of agents saying that there were more would-be tenants than properties available. However, this is a fall from 68% in the previous quarter.

It appears that some tenants have already sensed this turnaround. The number of would-be tenants haggling with landlords over rents increased, over the last six months, from 32% to 35%.

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