Industry News
Rent increases hit 13-year high as demand for private lets in major cities doubles
R
ents in the private sector are increasing at their highest rate since 2008 as as demand for properties inmajor cities has doubled
and for the first time in over a year rents are also rising in the capital. Property website Zoopla has released its latest
RentalMarket Report, showing that the overall demand for rental homes is 43 per cent above the five-year average, while the number of properties available to let is 43 per cent lower than usual. Demand inmajor cities such as Leeds,Manchester, and Edinburgh doubled in the threemonths to the end of September, compared with the earlier part of the year. This imbalance is driving rents up. Outside of
London the average private rent is now £809 a month, six per cent higher than a year ago. Indeed rents have risen by three per cent in just the last quarter. The fast rate of growth is being driven by a return of workers to city centres (as fewer people work fromhome) and students have gone to universities this Autumn. The good news for renters is that despite the
increase in rents, affordability has remained largely unchanged thanks to rising pay, with rents accounting for an average of 37 per cent of a single tenant’smonthly income. Gráinne Gilmore, head of research at Zoopla,
said: “Households looking for the flexibility of rental accommodation, especially students and city workers, are back in themarket after consecutive lockdowns affected demand levels inmajor cities.” It can also be explained in part by renters opting
for larger andmore expensive, properties as part of the pandemic-induced search formore space. The SouthWest saw the biggest jump in rental
growth at 9 per cent, due to its popularity as a place to live, followed by regions where renting remains most affordable, namelyWales, where rents have
risen 7.7 per cent year-on-year and the East Midlands at 6.9 per cent.
MISMATCH BETWEEN DEMAND AND SUPPLY Rent increases are running well ahead of the five- year average inmany of the UK’s largest cities, with Bristol seeing the strongest rise of 8.4 per cent, while Nottinghamwas not far behind at 8.3 per cent, and Glasgow was in third place at 7.2 per cent. Even in London, rents, which had fallen for
15months in a row, are rising again, increasing by 1.6 per cent in the year to the end of September as offices reopened and city life resumed. Despite this bounce back, rents in the capital are still 5 per cent lower than they were at the start of the pandemic, following significant falls during the past 18months. There is also a lack of supply of available
properties due to a combination of long-term factors which have caused landlords to exit the sector. These included the 3 per cent stamp duty surcharge on additional properties and the post- lockdown spike in demand. The net result is a fast-pacedmarket with homes taking an average of
just 15 days to rent across the UK. Tenants looking for a new home to rent have two
issues to contend with, namely intense competition and rising rents. Zoopla advises people theymay find somewhere with a lower rent if they are prepared to compromise on property type, such as opting for a flat rather than a house, or choosing a less central location. Looking ahead Zoopla is predicting that the
shortage of homes available to rent looks set to continue due to lower levels of investment by landlords, while demand is expected to remain strong as the employmentmarket remains relatively robust and there is still pent-up demand, particularly for homes in city centres. The mismatch between supply and demand will continue to push up rents. DanWilson Craw, Deputy Director of campaign
group Generation Rent, said the new report was "terrible news" for anyone trying tomove right now. "We have been hearing fromrenters who have lost bidding wars for homes, or failed affordability checks, so are being priced out of their areas," he said.
Poorhousingharmshealthof20per cent of tenants inEngland
Poor housing is harming the health of one in five tenants in England, withmould, damp and cold the main triggers of sickness, a survey by the housing charity Shelter has revealed. Approximately 1.9 million households could
be suffering physical andmental problems as a result of poor housing conditions as well as uncertainty caused by struggles to pay their rent and repeated evictions, polling of over 3,000 private tenants suggests. A quarter of all tenants said they were adversely affected by damp andmould and by
being unable to heat their homes. They were three timesmore likely to say housing was harming their health than those without the problems. The study also detailed how almost one in
four tenants said their housing situation had left them feeling “stressed and anxious” since the start of the pandemic. Renters affected bymould and heating
problems are three timesmore likely to say their home is harming their health, according to the survey results:
14 | HMMDecember/January 2022 |
www.housingmmonline.co.uk
• Affected bymould - 46%; • Unaffected bymould - 14%; • Affected by heating problems - 44%; and • Unaffected by heating problems - 15%.
“The cost of poor housing is spilling out into
overwhelmed GP surgeries,mental health services, and hours lost fromwork,” said Shelter’s chief executive, Polly Neate. “The new housing secretarymust get a grip on
the housing crisis and tackle amajor cause of ill health. Listening to the calls flooding into our helpline there is no doubt that health and housing go hand in hand. Yet, millions of renters are living in homes thatmake them sick because they are mouldy, cold, unaffordable and grossly insecure.”
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