Taylor Scott International News
The gap between the pace of annual rent rises in London and the rest of the UK has widened again after converging over the summer months, the latest index report shows. Rents were up 7.5% year on year in London and 3.5% in the rest of the UK in the third quarter of the year, according to the date from the HomeLet Rental Index. On average London tenants paid £1,560 per calendar month, which is over £800 more per month that the rest of the UK and for the second month in a row rents are now rising most quickly in Scotland, up by 9%. While the pace of rent rises has slowed over the autumn, rent inflation has increased in nine out of 12 regions of the country with the exception of the North West, where rents were 4.9% down, Northern Ireland with a fall of 2.1% and East Anglia down 1.2%. The October index report also includes new research into tenants’ views about the rental market which reveals that a large proportion of tenants are renting their homes for the long term and that they value relationships of trust with landlords and letting agents. Some 64% said that they planned to continue renting for a year or longer and 90% said they were happy with their landlord. However 71% would prefer to buy a home with 66% believing that saving for a deposit is the biggest barrier preventing them from doing so. ‘Our survey showed that many tenants ultimately aspire to own their own home, but that just over half of them aren’t actively saving for a deposit yet. 66% of those questioned said that a deposit wasn’t affordable for them,’ said Martin Totty, chief executive of HomeLet parent company Barbon Insurance Group. ‘However, the positive news is that almost nine out of 10 tenants told us that they were happy with the standard of their current rented property and the majority of tenants told us they were happy with the service provided by their landlord or letting agent,’ he pointed out. ‘Whilst we are seeing upward pressure on the rental market it’s important that the sector continues to drive professional standards forwards for mutual benefit of tenants, landlords and letting agents,’ he added. Taylor Scott International
Taylor Scott International, Taylor Scott
