Rental market reform needs to go much further, say tenants

Three quarters of all tenants say banning fees should be just the start in the process of much needed rental market reform. Research by online letting agency LetBritain reveals that 67% of the 2,000 tenants it canvassed don’t believe the current government can do anything to help them get on the property ladder, and that 70% said banning letting fees was “just the tip of the iceberg” and that more should be done. Three fifths of those canvassed also believed the government still isn’t doing anything to help Generation Rent become owners, and a similar number believe the rental market is going to get more difficult over the next five years. The research also revealed that half of all tenants in London rent properties much better than they could ever afford to own. Nearly 40% of tenants outside the capital also rent higher calibre properties than they could afford to buy. Landlord tenants LetBritain also uncovered a new breed of renter who could be a lucrative opportunity for networked agents – a quarter of those who rent said they wanted to purchase buy-to-let property outside the area they live in and get on the property ladder, but stay as tenants…

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