Landlords hold rent increases to keep tenants
Jennifer Harris of TDS says more property owners are keeping rents static due to worries about tenant affordability.
Many landlords are holding back on rent increases amid worries about keeping good tenants and awareness of affordability issues.
The number of property owners who have maintained rents at the same level has climbed to half in the past year, up from 40%.
Research by the TDS Charitable Foundation involving 2,000 landlords in England, found that retaining existing tenants was the most common reason for not increasing rents, cited by 47% of those keeping rents the same.
Concerns about the cost-of-living pressures facing tenants were also a significant factor, mentioned by 44%.
It is encouraging to see more landlords choosing to keep rents unchanged.”
Jennifer Harris, Head of Policy, Research and Social Impact at The Dispute Service Group (pictured), who carried out the research on behalf of the Foundation, says: “It is encouraging to see more landlords choosing to keep rents unchanged, particularly at a time when many tenants continue to face significant financial pressures.
“However, our research shows that decisions about rents are rarely straightforward.”
Landlords were less likely to have increased rents if they had no property debt or borrowing, owned only one rental property, or had never used a letting agent.
Running costs
However, the research also found that 48% of landlords had increased rents at least once over the previous 12 months.
The most common reasons given for raising rents were higher running costs, increased property maintenance expenses and the wider cost-of-living crisis.
Landlords who had increased rents were more likely to have larger property portfolios, incomes of £100,000 or more, own at least one HMO, or use a letting agent.
Arrears
The research also examined the extent of rent arrears, and how landlords respond when tenants fall behind on payments.
Just over a quarter of landlords reported having at least one tenant in rent arrears, a slight decrease from 29% in the previous year’s survey.
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