Landlords see tenant demand and rents rise
Landlords around the country are seeing rents rise and tenant demand booming at higher levels than in 2019, new research reveals.
The findings from Goodlord show that rents are rising in most regions and void periods are beginning to fall.
That's because, they say, growing numbers of tenants are entering the market to boost competition for rental properties after the Covid-19 lockdown was eased.
Their research has revealed that rent costs have risen by 3% in eight regions with landlords in the South West seeing average price rises of 11% to £965 per month from £859.
The East Midlands is the only region to see rents fall with an average drop of 4% to £795 per month from £825.
Average rent being paid by tenants
According to Goodlord, the average rent being paid by tenants has risen from May's figure of £862 to £893 per month in June.
Also, voids have fallen in five of the eight regions the firm monitors with the biggest fall in voids being registered by landlords in the North East where voids have fallen to 17 days from 29 days, on average.
The chief executive of Goodlord, Tom Mundy, said: "If May was categorised by the pent-up market demand, then June has seen this being translated into action.
"The numbers through the month were impressive and show the industry has been working hard to serve as many landlords and tenants as possible. "
He added: "We saw in June an unprecedented number of lets being completed and it's no surprise to see the levels of demand affecting average rent costs and also void periods."
Generation Rent analysis criticised as 'scaremongering'
Meanwhile, an analysis published by the pressure group Generation Rent that claimed homelessness is set to treble because of rent arrears that have been built-up under the Covid-19 lockdown has been dismissed as 'scaremongering'.
The rebuttal came from the National Residential Landlords' Association (NRLA), who added that Generation Rent is 'needlessly scaring tenants'.
The renters' organisation also claimed that landlords in the capital are doing little to support tenants to remain in their homes while they build-up arrears.
This is despite polling for the NRLA of tenants in England and Wales which found that 90% of renters have been able to pay their rent since the lockdown began.
And 82% of tenants had not asked their landlord for support and of those who did ask for help, 75% received a positive response from their landlord.
The NRLA's policy director, Chris Norris, said: "Our survey reflects that nearly all landlords are looking to support tenants to remain in their homes.
"And with 30% of landlords reporting some level of financial hardship, they are doing everything they can to sustain tenancies."
