Tenants at breaking point as rent rises go on

Tuesday 6th March 2012

The number of tenants who expect rents to go up in the next 12 months is at a record high.

This morning, Rightmove said that 63% of tenants, in a giant poll of 5,567 people who are currently renting or expecting to do so, expect rent rises.

This is the highest it has been since Rightmove began its consumer surveys three years ago.

The company said that tenants’ views were not so much music to landlords’ ears as the ‘sound of tenants crying for help’.

The survey found evidence of long-term demand, with over one-third of tenants expecting to be renting for three years or longer.

More landlords are needed, says Rightmove.

Although search activity by people looking for a place to rent has more than doubled in the last two years, available rental stock listed on the site is down by nearly 10%.

Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove, said: “Attention investor landlords! Now, more than ever, your country needs you!

“As well as potentially earning a good return on your investment compared to other asset classes, private landlords can help provide a long-term rented roof over a grateful tenant’s head.

“While hard-nosed rental investors may not welcome the appearance of too many new landlords if it results in downward pressure on rents, if you invest wisely it seems to be a genuine win-win of good rental yields for landlords and a secure stream of tenants paying a fair return.”

He warned that without a significant increase in rental supply, there is the danger of a rental bubble in some areas, with tenants having to commit too much of their disposable income and landlords ending up with arrears and voids.

Shipside added: “Six out of ten tenants forecast that their rents will be higher in 12 months’ time.

“This might be music to some landlords’ ears, but in reality it is the sound of many tenants crying for help!”