The UK property rental market is shrinking dramatically, leading to a new report warning that rents could rise.
The excess of future tenants over rents may be due in part to pandemic-driven models of hybrid and telecommuting that allow people to choose places without having to consider commuting to the office, the report said. Propertymark, the commercial body for real estate agents. .
According to the report, the average number of properties that real estate agents in the UK say they are currently advertising for rent fell from 30.4 to just 15.6 between March 2019 and March 2022, revealing a significant reducing the places available for tenants to live.
The number of properties available for rent through rental agents has halved in three years, a new study shows
(PA conductor)
During the same four-year period, the company found that 94% of landlords who removed their property from the rental market did so to sell it.
Propertymark found that London-based rental agents reported for the most part that the number of investors buying property had declined over the past three years.
However, for the rest of the UK, there is no similar consensus on whether the number of investors buying property has increased, decreased or remained the same.
However, Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark, said the company’s study “presents a worrying picture for private tenants.”
He said: “The number of properties offered for rent is declining by a large number of landlords who choose to sell their properties. Lack of property is the main reason for the increase in rents and growing figures in the lists of social housing.
“We know from our qualitative research that the most common reasons landlords choose to sell their property and no longer provide housing are related to risk, finances and viability.
According to the company’s survey, more than half of the rented properties sold in March this year alone have not returned to the private rental market.
“Landlords and rental agents have been subject to extreme changes in legislation as the UK government seeks to improve the sector,” Mr Emerson said. “However, without a middle ground, these changes are actually detrimental to those who have to defend.
“Unfortunately, we do not see this improving as the sector prepares for more changes within the expected tenant reform bill and the forthcoming energy efficiency targets.
Propertymark surveyed 443 agents working for businesses with a total of more than 4,000 branches in the four British nations.
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