HomeLet
-
Latest property news
Rents drop across the UK as government measures hit landlords
Rents are tumbling across many parts of the UK according to the latest rental index from referencing firm HomeLet, whose Chief Executive has questioned the wisdom of recent government measures to reduce landlord appetite for investment. HomeLet says rents fell in the UK by 0.3% last month, the first time this has happened since late 2009 and that rents in London have dropped by 3% over the past year from £1,572 a month last July to £1,502 a month in May. “May 2017 saw average rents nationally fall for the first time in eight years when the economy had suffered the shock of the financial crisis,” says Martin Totty, Chief Executive of HomeLet (pictured, left). “[Our] rental data suggests landlords are now facing a difficult balancing act between ensuring rents are affordable for tenants in a low real wage growth environment whilst covering their own rising costs. “Tenants will still need a vibrant and growing rented sector to provide them with property options at the time of their choosing. “Any constraint to the supply of rental properties, because landlords are unable to achieve the reasonable returns they require, cannot be in the long term best interests of tenants, especially if,…
Read More » -
Resources
Rental price inflation heads for zero
Rental price inflation fell to 0.7 per cent in January and is on target to fall below zero within months, the January HomeLet Rental Index reveals.
Read More » -
Resources
London rent increases slow down
Rents in London are rising more slowly than anywhere else in the country except the East Midlands, the latest data from the HomeLet Rental Index reveals.
Read More » -
Housing Market
Rental market inflation slows
Rents agreed in September were 3 per cent higher than a year ago, New data from the September HomeLet Rental Index reveals, but the pace at which rents are rising is continuing to slow, as landlords strive to ensure that tenancies remain affordable.
Read More » -
Latest property news
Tenant fees ban will have an unintended consequence, Mr Hammond
Two senior figures within the lettings industry have said that the tenant fees ban announced by Philip Hammond in his Autumn statement is likely to make life more difficult for tenants, not easier. Martin Totty, CEO of HomeLet (pictured, left) and David Cox, MD of ARLA (pictured below), both told The Negotiator that they expect tenants to be asked for – and pay the costs of – providing their own references if a full ban is implemented. Totty, who heads up the UK’s largest referencing agency, says that while there is now uncertainty about what might happen to referencing after agents and landlords are prevented from passing on their cost to tenants, if this does happen renters should not “assume referencing is no longer their liability” if they want to secure a property. “This would be an unfortunate [and] unintended consequence of the announcement contained in the Autumn Statement,” he says. David Cox agrees, saying that if referencing agencies such as HomeLet are forced to find alternative business models, these companies will turn to tenants to pay the cost of checking their financial and rental track records. Cox says that if a full ban is introduced he believes agents will ask tenants for…
Read More » -
Resources
Rental market buoyant as tenants stay put
Rent across the country climbed again during July, building on the increases in the first half of the year, the latest HomeLet Rental Index shows.
Read More » -
Resources
Brexit uncertainty fails to halt rent rises
Population growth and limited supply continue to underpin the private rental sector, but rents rose at a slower pace during the first half of the year than in 2015, the HomeLet Rental Index reveals.
Read More » -
Latest property news
Rents still rising
Demand outstripping supply leads to average rents rising by 4 per cent in London and 2.3 per cent across the rest of the UK.
Read More » -
Uncategorised
Rent rise slowdown mirrors sales market
Rents in almost every part of the UK are continuing to rise, new research from HomeLet reveals, but at a slower rate than in previous months – markedly slower than a year ago.
Read More » -
Uncategorised
National figures mask regional variations
Rents rose in 10 out of 12 regions last year, the latest data from the monthly HomeLet Rental Index reveals, but the headline figures mask some very significant regional variations, with certain towns, cities and regions registering much greater increases than others. Rents on new tenancies signed outside of London in Q4 were 4.9 per cent higher than in the same period of 2014, HomeLet’s figures show; the figure for the capital was 8.0 per cent. As a result, the average rent on a home outside London now is £739; at £1,523 in the capital – it is more than twice as high. As in previous years, Greater London saw faster rent increases than any other region, though the South-East wasn’t far behind, with a rise of 7 per cent. Rents on new tenancies signed in the East Midlands, the next best performing region, were up 6.4 per cent. On the other hand, average rents fell by 5.1 per cent last year in the North-West and by 0.6 per cent in Northern Ireland. HomeLet has also studied rent increases in leading towns and cities across the UK, finding that Brighton and Bristol saw higher rent rises than any other locations…
Read More »