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TODAY'S OTHER NEWS

Agency research lifts the lid on tenants' finances and demographics

The average rental household in London has 2.1 rent-paying tenants, each paying £775 per month, equating to an average property rent of £1,600 per calendar month. 

The average age of a privately renting tenant is 37 years old and nearly a third of them - 32 per cent - have non-rent paying dependents living in their household. 

The data comes from Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward’s latest research into the sector in the capital.

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Two thirds of private tenants - 64 per cent - would rather own than rent, however some 52 per cent feel the possibility ownership has decreased over the last year.

While the vast majority of private tenants in London - 71 per cent - are happy living in a rented home, only a quarter of renters want to stay living in long term rented accommodation.

On average, tenants expect to continue renting in London for a little over four years, while 48 per cent expect their rent to rise over the next year - the average expectation for the increase in 1.1 per cent on average over the next 12 months. 

The highest priority among tenants when choosing property is rental price. Nearly four in five tenants felt this was important when choosing their current property. 

Some of the lowest priorities among tenants are shared inclusive amenities such as gyms, cinema rooms and entertaining areas (important to just five per cent); good quality mobile phone reception (seven per cent) and high internet speed (12 per cent).

“High buying costs mean many expect to rent for the foreseeable future and want property that adequately meets their expectations. It’s therefore important that landlords, private rental sector portfolio owners and Build To Rent developers understand the demands of their customers” explains Carol Pawsey, group lettings director at KFH. 

  • Barry X

    No surprises in any of this, it's all a bit obvious and hardly "lifting the lid" in the sense of revealing anything unexpected but never mind.

    I was expecting it to talk about the fragility of tenant finances, the increasing risks of default and the difficulty they have finding anywhere they like they could afford for themselves, i.e. on their own as sole tenants. Even if they have relativity well paid jobs they probably can't afford a London rent on their own even for a fairly small and basic flat such as a studio or average 1-bed place somewhere.

    To get around this and enable the already large and apparent growing numbers of SINGLE PEOPLE to rent, who can't afford anywhere on their own (even in well paid jobs, as I said, and perhaps into their late 20s or early 30s) they are forced to make significant compromises and team up to become sharers, or worse still get into relationships of convenience that are highly likely to become uncomfortable and ultimately fail (sometimes quite quickly). We are therefore always cautious of couples, especially if young and /or apparently incompatible as they increase our risks as landlords.

    Who'd become a landlord threes days, especially in London, if not one already?!

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