Martin Totty
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Latest property news
BREAKING: Lettings sector supplier Barbon is snapped up by insurance giant PIB
Barbon, which last year merged with Let Alliance, has appointed Andy Halstead as its new CEO following its acquisition by PIB.
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Latest property news
HomeLet and LetAlliance merge as impact of tenant fees ban is felt across industry
HomeLet, Rentshield and Let Alliance will now all operate under the Barbon insurance broker umbrella in a bid to weather the 'tough and challenging' letting market.
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Latest property news
Rents rising again across the UK, index says
Average new tenancy rents in nine out of the UK’s 12 regions increased last month, according to the latest rental index from Homelet. The letting services firm says rents increased on average by 1.1% across the UK year-on-year, and that rises were highest in Northern Ireland where they increased 2.4% during July alone, and 5.4% year on year. Tenants are now paying £10 more a month to rent a property than a year ago, or £925. Scotland had the next highest rents rises at 3.6% followed by the East Midlands at 3.2%. Rent reductions But rents have continued dropping in London, the South East and North East, the index shows, by up to 1.7%. This follows national decreases in rent during April and May this year, and the rent reductions in London are the fourth in a row for the capital. A year ago rents in London were rising by 6.6%. “It’s often been the case in recent times that rents have strengthened over the summer period,” says Martin Totty, CEO of Homelet (pictured, left). “It’s a time when renters contemplate moving, demand increases, tenancy terms are set, and when the anniversary of the tenancy often occurs. “This year, that…
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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,…
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Uncategorised
Rents rise at a slower pace
Rental prices continued to increase at double-figure rates on an annual basis, and are now 10.5 per cent higher than a year ago, led by gains in the South East of England and East Anglia, the latest findings from the HomeLet Rental Index show. The pace of rent rises slowed and in some regions retracted over the three months to August 2015, compared to the previous three-month period. Nevertheless, the average UK rent on new tenancies increased by 1.6 per cent in the three months to August 2015, compared to a rise of 2.2 per cent for the three months to July and June 2015. Overall rent price increases are still running ahead of inflation and house price growth, with the Index showing that average UK rents for new tenancies over the three months to August 2015 stood at £992 per month. The most expensive rents are to be found in London, where the average rent on a new tenancy reached £1,558 per month during the three months to August 2015, up from £1,538 per month in the three months to July 2015. On an annualised basis, only the North West of England reported lower rents for new tenancies in…
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Latest property news
Average rents in England and Wales reach record high
Average residential rents in England and Wales rose above £800 for the first time in July following the fastest monthly increase since records began six years ago. The figures from the latest buy-to-let index from Your Move and Reeds Rains reveal that rents increased by an average of 1.9 per cent across England and Wales to £804 per calendar month in July, up from £789 the previous month and a rise of 6.8 per cent year-on-year. Rental price increases in July were led by London, where rents rose by an average of 12.1 per cent year-on-year, followed by the East of England, up 12 per cent to stand at £838pcm. A breakdown of the figures reveal that all 10 regions saw rents increase on an annual basis last month, with London, Yorkshire and the Humber (£582 on average), and the East (£584) and West Midlands (£583) all seeing record rent peaks. Two regions saw rents decline on a monthly basis, with a 0.1 per cent month-on -month fall in Wales and the East of England. Higher rents are unsurprisingly being fuelled primarily by the widening supply-demand imbalance in the rental market, according to Adrian Gill (left), Director of Reeds Rains…
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Uncategorised
Average UK rents surge
Rental prices rose further across nearly all regions of the UK, led by gains in the South West of England and Scotland, the latest findings from the HomeLet Rental Index show. Overall rent price increases are now running ahead of inflation and house price growth, with the Index showing that average UK rents are up 11.8 per cent year-on-year, with the median rent for new tenancies over the three months to July 2015 stood at £977 per month or £761 excluding Greater London. The most expensive rents are to be found in London, where the average rent on a new tenancy now stands at £1,538 per month, up 9.5 per cent year-on-year. However, three regions of the UK saw rent prices increase at a rate exceeding that of the capital in the three months to July 2015. In the South West of England rent prices on new tenancy agreements signed in the three months to July were 11.4 per cent higher than in the same period of last year, in Scotland they rose 11.2 per cent and in the South East of England there was growth of 10.3 per cent. Martin Totty, Chief Executive Officer of Barbon Insurance Group, parent…
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Uncategorised
Rents rising nationwide
Rental prices are now increasing across all regions of the UK, new findings from the HomeLet Rental Index show. This is only the third time in the history of the Index –previously in October 2014 and once in December 2010 – that rent prices in every region of the UK have increased at the same time. The Index also reveals that the pace of growth in London has picked up again, after a period of slower growth, with average rents agreed on new tenancies in May 2015 exceeding £1,500 per month for the first time. Rents agreed on new tenancies across the UK in the three months to the end of May 2015 were 10.7 per cent higher than the same time last year, with the average now standing at £935 per month, or £738 excluding Greater London. The South West of England saw the largest increases, with average rent prices 13.6 per cent higher than a year ago. Scotland, (9.6 per cent), the South East of England (9.4 per cent) and Greater London (9.2 per cent) also advanced strongly. In Greater London, the average rent now stands at £1,472 for the three months to May 2015, however, when looking…
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