LETTINGSnews
HOMES TO LET Rental gazumping grows
The ever increasing shortage of property to let is creating a huge increase
in gazumping as tenants battle to find a new home. Countrywide said it had an
average of 4.4 tenants vying for every home that was available to rent during the three months, rising to 5.9 people per property in the South West. Grenville Turner, Chief Executive
of Countrywide (pictured above), said, “The continued challenges faced by homebuyers to gain mortgage finance is likely to see more people turning to the private rental sector this year. Despite the increase in buy-to-let lending, supply remains significantly lower than demand, with an average of 4.5 tenants vying for every available property in 2010. “During 2009 there were 2.3
tenants for every available rental property, which demonstrates the
TO
upward shift in demand we’re experiencing. This could soon reach critical levels as limited mortgage availability continues to stifle the market and the impact of the government’s austerity measures on social housing and employment kicks in.”
The group said the number of
people looking to rent a home rose by 14 per cent in the final quarter of 2010, and that 200,000 potential tenants registered with the group during the year as a whole, the highest number since its records began in 2003, and 37 per cent more than in 2009. But the supply of rental homes
failed to keep pace with demand, with the number of available properties falling by 29 per cent during the year. One of the first signs of the emergence of gazumping came in November when Stephen Ludlow, director of
ludlowthompson.com, said that a four-bedroom ex-council home was recently let in Camberwell, south-east London,
‘4.5 tenants vying for every single property in 2010.’
for £500 a week – £150 above the asking price and more than 40 per cent higher than the previous rent. Since the New Year, more agencies have been experiencing a sense of desperation among tenants in areas where housing stocks are low.
Findaproperty.com’s recent
research found that one in eight renters, or 13 per cent, say they’ve been gazumped on a rental property in the past 12 months, while 26 per cent have admitted to being the gazumper – by placing a higher bid at the last minute to snatch a rental property away from someone else. Winchester Lettings Group Managing Director, Kevin Winchester told Findaproperty that there’s been a steady decline in fresh properties coming onto the rental market in Bromley,
where his company operates. “A couple weeks ago we had a property listed at £895 per month where the offer was gazumped again and again, in the end it went to the fourth bidder at £80 over the asking price,” Winchester said. “And just before Christmas we had a one bedroom flat on offer at £875pcm which was pipped by someone willing to overbid by £125 a month.”
And the gazumping
phenomenon is not just happening in London. Maria Kemp of letting agents Kemp and Co Estate Agents in West Dorset says there’s been a steady increase in rental gazumping in the Poundbury and Dorchester area. “We’ve seen more of it in the
last 12 months and mostly in the upper end of the market – the family homes – where there is a very limited supply of good rental properties, but a huge demand from families who want to move to take advantage of good schools and transport links.”
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www.propertydrum.com 50 MARCH 2011 PROPERTYdrum
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