Location Location Location star and property market commentator Phil Spencer has spoken up for landlords.
In a forward to the latest Propertymark letting agents’ market report, Spencer says: “Seeing another dip in the number of privately rented homes available will likely not boost renters’ confidence. Wages have generally failed to keep pace with rent increases over the years in many regions, with the issues further worsened by a slowdown in property investment within the sector.
“It would help enormously if we could all see the promotion of a healthy mix of tenures, and appreciate the important role that good, law-abiding landlords play in housing the nation.
“We now need to nurture and incentivise current and future investment to avoid further fuelling this ever-increasing gap in available homes to rent and the resulting growing
demand from renters.”
His comments come in response to new figures from Propertymark which show there are six applicants for every available rental property.
The data – released this week but relating to June – shows that while there was a fall in new tenants registering in that month (down to an average of 57 per branch) so the supply of stock also fell, to just 9.75 homes per branch.
It means that for every available lettings flat or house, there are six tenants competing to get it.
Nathan Emerson, chief executive of Propertymark, says: “In the lettings sector, there appears to be little fluctuation in outlook in the short to medium term, with demand continuing to significantly outstrip the supply of available rental properties.
“This trend could worsen, not only due to a lack of support for landlords to invest in the sector — ultimately pushing rent levels higher across many regions — but also because tenants might now choose to stay put for longer, given the uncertainty and difficulty in finding a new home.”
This article is taken from Landlord Today