There’s been an upbeat assessment of how the private rental sector will fare in the next five years from a leading property consultancy.

JLL, in a market forecast up to 2024, says “the lettings market will experience renewed energy and vigour following a slow five years.”

By 2024 JLL expects average rental growth across the UK of 12.0 per cent.

This will be backed up by what the firm calls “fundamental population changes” such as shrinking family size, longer life expectancy and demand for flexible, urban living space all supporting the growth of private renting.

On the sales side JLL cautions that 2020 will remain “subdued” with only a 1.0 per cent growth in average house prices but the firm anticipates better performance once the current political hiatus is over.

JLL’s forecast says that from the end of 2021 the housing market was likely to recover, showing stronger growth of 3.0 to 4.0 per cent from 2022 onwards. 

Over the five years, the firm says the average house price will grow by a total of 15 per cent.

“We expect the economic and political backdrop to the housing market will be more robust over the next five years compared to the last five. Some economic and political uncertainty will remain, especially initially” the agency adds.

“Despite this, we forecast notable increases in house prices, transactions and housing starts across all regions of the UK over the next five years. Indeed, the medium-term outlook for the UK housing market is remarkably positive.”