Landlords around the country are seeing rents rise and tenant demand
booming at higher levels than in 2019, new research reveals.
The findings from Goodlord show that rents are rising in most regions and
void periods are beginning to fall.
That's because, they say, growing numbers of tenants are entering the
market to boost competition for rental properties after the Covid-19
lockdown was eased.
Their research has revealed that rent costs have risen by 3% in eight
regions with landlords in the South West seeing average price rises of 11%
to £965 per month from £859.
The East Midlands is the only region to see rents fall with an average drop
of 4% to £795 per month from £825.
Average rent being paid by tenants
According to Goodlord, the average rent being paid by tenants has risen
from May's figure of £862 to £893 per month in June.
Also, voids have fallen in five of the eight regions the firm monitors with
the biggest fall in voids being registered by landlords in the North East
where voids have fallen to 17 days from 29 days, on average.
The chief executive of Goodlord, Tom Mundy, said: "If May was categorised
by the pent-up market demand, then June has seen this being translated into
action.
"The numbers through the month were impressive and show the industry has
been working hard to serve as many landlords and tenants as possible. "
He added: "We saw in June an unprecedented number of lets being completed
and it's no surprise to see the levels of demand affecting average rent
costs and also void periods."
Generation Rent analysis criticised as 'scaremongering'
Meanwhile, an analysis published by the pressure group Generation Rent that
claimed homelessness is set to treble because of rent arrears that have
been built-up under the Covid-19 lockdown has been dismissed as
'scaremongering'.
The rebuttal came from the National Residential Landlords' Association
(NRLA), who added that Generation Rent is 'needlessly scaring tenants'.
The renters' organisation also claimed that landlords in the capital are
doing little to support tenants to remain in their homes while they
build-up arrears.
This is despite polling for the NRLA of tenants in England and Wales which
found that 90% of renters have been able to pay their rent since the
lockdown began.
And 82% of tenants had not asked their landlord for support and of those
who did ask for help, 75% received a positive response from their landlord.
The NRLA's policy director, Chris Norris, said: "Our survey reflects that
nearly all landlords are looking to support tenants to remain in their
homes.
"And with 30% of landlords reporting some level of financial hardship, they
are doing everything they can to sustain tenancies."
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