PRS Avoids Its Summer Slowdown
The number of new rental home listings in Britain grew by 8.5% in July, defying the sector's usual summer slowdown, research reveals.
The Agency Express Property Activity Index also reveals that the volume of properties being let grew by 6% in the month.
The index highlights that eight of the 12 regions being monitored saw their listings 'to let' increasing and 10 of the 12 regions also saw a spike in the number of properties being let.
The best performing region in July was the East Midlands with the number of new homes to let growing by 46.7% on the month before.
Best figures for July ever recorded
The next best performing region is East Anglia with the number of properties to let rising by 27.4%, and for both regions, these are the best figures for July ever recorded.
The managing director of Agency Express, Stephen Watson, said: "For the lettings market, July has been an unexpected month and we would usually see slower activity but there's an increase in our customer base, which has been buoyant.
"While we expect to see further increases in August, we don't expect a pickup in activity until September and it will be interesting to see if this rate of activity continues."
Rental costs before buying a home revealed
Meanwhile, the amount that an average adult in the UK will pay in rent before buying a property has been revealed.
The findings from Keepmoat Homes highlight that a new homebuyer will fork out more than £63,000 in rent.
The research reveals that an average of £625 is being paid to landlords every month in rent and the figures cover those who bought their first property in the last five years. It also takes around eight-and-a-half years for a tenant to get a deposit together to buy a home.
The homebuilder's chief executive, Tim Beale, said: "As a first step for many towards home independence, renting is important and offers flexibility and allows you to test areas and home types before committing to buying.
"However, the research shows the considerable renting costs and it's not surprising that for more than half of people feel as if home ownership will never be possible."
The researchers also found that after nearly five years of saving, the average deposit on a property being paid by tenants was £24,033 or 80% of an adult's average salary.
For those who are still renting, they told researchers that it would be at least another four years before they could even think about buying their own home.
