Belvoir is warning that some buy to let investors are quitting the sector.

“Although we are not currently seeing a huge exit of landlords from the market it is apparent that landlords are beginning to sell their properties” warns Belvoir chief executive Dorian Gonsalves. 

“Almost 70 per cent of Belvoir agents believe the government has under-estimated how many landlords will be affected by the changes to mortgage interest relief” he adds. 

“Most agents expect investor enquiries to remain the same, or to fall, especially for room rents. Average void periods for one week remain the same, although there has been an increase in two-week voids” says Gonsalves.

In his agency’s latest lettings sector market report, he says the majority of tenants are staying in their properties for longer, with almost half choosing to stay for 13 to 18 months and over 36 per cent staying for up to two years. 

The firm says average rents in the second quarter of this year showed an annual rise of 2.75 per cent to £751 pcm. 

Regional differences were of course acute, ranging from £597 in north west England and £665 in Yorkshire, to £1,048 in the south east and £1,446 in London.