Private rents continued to increase in August, hitting a new record high of £887 per month across England and Wales, research shows.
Tenants had to fork out more than £70 extra per month to their private landlords compared to last year - a rise of 8.7%, according to the latest figures from letting agents Your Move.
The private rented market in the August-October period is typically busier than usual due to students looking for accommodation, but rents have nevertheless been growing steadily in recent months as many would-be property buyers put purchases on hold in wake of Brexit vote and choose to rent instead.
Rental costs rose across most parts of England and Wales, led by gains in London, the South East and the North East.
Rents in London rose by 6.9% in the last 12 months to hit an all-time high level of £1,391. However, this performance was bettered by the South East where rents reached £975 per month in August.
The North East recorded rental price of 12.3% on average over the same time period and properties now let for an average of £583 per month.
Adrian Gill, director of Your Move, said: “The rental market appears to have left any uncertainty about the market behind with prices across England and Wales again reaching record highs.”
“London continues to be home to the highest rents but other areas such as the North East and South East are witnessing even stronger levels of growth over the year – demonstrating the seasonal impact of the student market.”
“Yields have picked up following a gentle decline in recent months, something which landlords will no doubt watch with interest over the next couple of months.”
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Surely, above all else, rents are going up as landlords prepare for the greedy tax-take by Osborne.
Private landlords are withdrawing from the market and HB in particular in their droves, and cities such as Peterborough are already citing the retreat as being partly down to S24. This is 6 months before the tax change kicks in, so what's it going to be like after it? Hence the spike in homelessness that Peterborough is facing and leading to the bizarre situation of making 74 families homeless in order to turn the properties into short-term hostel accommodation.
At our local landlord's meeting this week we had a representative from Peterborough City Council come and present a case for renting to LHA tenants. She was new to the job and it's only just dawning on her what a battle she has on her hands. She knew about S24 but didn't appreciate just how onerous and damaging it is. Several landlords sypmathised with her but said they wouldn't want her job for anything.
Let's hope Mr Hammond has some sense and leads from the Irish example where in the budget yesterday they announced the scrapping of the restriction of mortgage interest relief.
I couldn't put it better. A rent rise over the last year, and in coming years, is surely far more to do with S24 and SDLT than students doing what they've always done!
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