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Rents 'on the way up'
23/11/10
Edited by Bob Witham.
Rents are "definitely on the way up" as the number of people looking to let residential property outweighs the supply of accommodation, according to one expert.
LettingZone founder Mark Garner said the prospects for an improvement in the availability of homes look slim, as many existing tenants are staying put.
Furthermore, the number of landlords purchasing buy-to-let property remains low in historical terms as it is difficult to raise the deposits of 20 to 30 per cent required by lenders.
Looking forward, he argued the supply of rented homes will be put under "more and more pressure" as changes to housing benefit come into force.
"More people will want to go private than stay where they are so, if anything, rents are going to be pushed up for the next two years," Mr. Garner stated.
His comments come after research by Rightmove showed 41 per cent of tenants expect the cost of letting a home to rise over the coming 12 months.
