With demand for rental accommodation heavily outstripping housing supply, more than a quarter of tenants feel as though they were rushed into entering their tenancy agreement, new research shows.
A new survey conducted on behalf of Ocean Finance found that 27% of tenants feel that they were pressured into agreeing to a new tenancy, with 8% of renters having signed their tenancy agreement on the day that they viewed the property.
One in 10 said the turnaround between viewing and entering the tenancy was 2-3 days, and a similar number said they signed the agreement between 4-7 days after the viewing.
Younger renters – aged between 18 and 24 - are the most likely to act hastily when renting with almost half - 46% - saying that they felt rushed into signing.
By contrast, just 17% of those aged over 55-plus felt pressured to sign quickly to secure the property.
Tenants in London, where the housing shortage is most acute, typically felt under the most pressure to sign quickly to secure a rental home, along with those renters in Northern Ireland, reflecting the growing supply-demand imbalance in the market.
By contrast, just 12% of tenants in Wales felt the pressure to sign.
Around half of those who felt pressured into entering their tenancy agreement say that they wish they had not done so.
The main reasons for regret were:
|
Reason for regret
|
% of rushed tenants who gave reason**
|
|
Property is too cold
|
10%
|
|
Property is too small
|
9%
|
|
Property needs too much work doing to it
|
9%
|
|
Dislike of surrounding area
|
8%
|
|
Not enough outdoor area
|
6%
|
|
Property lacks character
|
4%
|
|
Property is too old-fashioned
|
4%
|
|
Property is too far away from amenities
|
2%
|
Ian Williams, Ocean’s spokesperson, said: “Our figures demonstrate just how hard it is to rent a property across much of the UK. The best properties are often snapped up within hours or even minutes. As a result, would-be tenants feel under pressure to sign quickly to secure the property. Sadly, half of those go on to regret their haste, finding themselves in a home that they don’t like or which doesn’t suit them.”
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