Areas With The Highest Rental Demand Revealed

The areas that have the highest rental demand from tenants in the UK have been revealed.

Verismart, a property compliance specialist, says it has analysed rental data from property portals to find where the most in-demand rental locations are.

Cambridge tops the table with 57% of tenant demand to make it the UK's most sought-after city.

The list is then dominated by London's commuter belt with Basingstoke, taking second place with 56%, and St Albans on 53%.

In fourth place is Milton Keynes, with 49%, followed by Crawley on 47%.

Outside of London, Bristol makes the top 10 with 45%, followed by York on 43%.

'London remains attractive for buy to let'

The firm's founder Jonathan Senior said: "While London remains attractive for buy to let, it's clear that the market slowdown and the political and economic uncertainty is stretching the rental sector."

He added that tenants are avoiding the capital's prime market and they are looking to the surrounding commuter belt for rental homes.

He also says that the potential impact from the tenant fees ban may affect the wider market, though the UK's rental sector will continue to show healthy levels of demand since the price of home ownership still remains out of reach for many.

For a key property decision, landlords increasingly use accountants

Meanwhile, it's been revealed that most landlords who need to make a key property decision will use an accountant to help them.

The findings from Kent Reliance reveal that 58% of landlords involve their accountant when making a property decision.

In addition, another 10% of landlords say they are considering using an accountant in the future.

The recent changes to the tax treatment of landlords is thought to be behind the move for increasingly using accountants for making property decisions.

A spokesman for the firm said: "There's evidence of the sector's growing professionalisation and as full-time landlords take more market share, we could see this use of professionals, including accountants, increase.

"This is good news as landlords will have access to more advice ahead of making a key property decision, particularly if there are tax implications."

The spokesman added that growing numbers of landlords are moving into a limited company structure that will help offset recent tax changes but this requires more detailed accounting and more professional tax advice.