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A new survey by PropTech firm Goodlord has the unsurprising conclusion that the biggest worry for tenants is that their rent might go up.
The survey is small - just 231 tenants - but it found that 87 per cent named the rising cost of rent as a key concern.
The average cost of a rental property in England is now £1,071 - that’s 8.7 per cent higher than at the same time last year. As inflation persists and the supply of rental homes remains limited, more and more tenants are feeling the effects of rising prices.
The next highest concern cited by renters was the difficulty of finding a home to rent, which 51 per cent of tenants said they were worried about.
There are fears across the industry that an increasing number of landlords will leave the buy to let market this year in response to rising mortgage costs and increasingly complex regulatory requirements. This will increase the pressure on housing stock and mean the current highly competitive nature of the UK rental market is likely to intensify.
Some 42 per cent of tenants said that the condition of their rental homes is also an area of worry. And 24 per cent expressed concern about their legal rights and protection against eviction in the coming year. Both are key factors many tenants are hoping are addressed in the Renters’ Reform Bill, due to be published later this year.
Goodlord says that in an era of economic uncertainty and fluctuating interest rates, tenants are facing a new set of challenges when attempting to leave the rental market behind. According to the survey, 28 per cent of respondents noted concerns over the difficulty of getting onto the housing ladder.
Tom Mundy, Goodlord chief operating officer, comments: “Against the backdrop of the cost of living crisis, it’s clear tenants across the UK have significant concerns about how they will cope with potential rent increases in 2023, with the lack of rental stock - a concern also shared by letting agents - following not far behind.
“As the industry prepares for another busy year, with demand in the rental market showing little sign of diminishing, it’s clear that incentives to boost stock are acutely needed.”
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Landlords selling up has a direct link to higher rents 💵 , if the government keeps hitting us… we will react 😎 the EPC C being one of the big ones.
It’s clear that in a world of supply and demand, the answer is increasing the stock. Whether that be BTL or BTR. Then why put in so many barriers to investment. It’s not just the existing barriers that put many off investing further. The Probability of rent controls matching Scotland is getting greater by the day. Then once Rent is frozen, other costs such as Licensing schemes will reduce profit well below other investment opportunities, so a costly court case in order to get your property back and sell will begin as S21 will have been removed. I’m not selling, but nothing makes me want to buy.
When do we get the headline “Biggest worry for landlords are interest rates, compliance costs, additional taxation, rent freezes, no evictions and higher maintenance costs” = higher rents!
Where I have good excising tenants I keep rent increases to a minimum, however when I have a change of tenant I increase to full market rent, that way a tenant takes on the tenancy with their eyes open, if the rents too much then walk away .
Same here.
This has been my strategy for the past decade, but I’m starting to regret it. I have long termers that could not afford to move out if I needed my property back and thus hold out for the bailiffs.
My hope is that I can raise gently, but quick enough that I beat the call for rent controls.
If the main problem is shortage of properties and high rents then the answer is surely to increase the number of rental properties? The proposed legislation will have the opposite effect. Hey ho.
So there’s a shortage of Accommodation that they created.
Their answer is to reduce it even more by further Regulation, Legislation, remove Section 21, bring -in Renters Reformer Bill and invent Licensing Schemes / Gravy train’s. That should kill it dead.
Definitely EPC , all day long they moan about the EPC , the roofs leaking ? Damp , Mould , Walls collapsing ??
NONE of that matters , only ONE thing REALLY matters
E P C !!!
A man after my own heart, mine will not get a C , so if this legislation comes in, the game is up and my tenants are in a world of pain.
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