Latest Landlord News by: Madalena Penny

Positivity surrounds the beginning of 2011 for landlords, letting agents and property investors.

Q4 2010

According to the recent rental index from leading property website Findaproperty.com, the increase in value of residential rental properties has resulted in a £55 per month increase in rents outside London since January 2010.

Data from their research reveals that the 6.8% rise in rents has placed the average rental value at £859 pcm in the final quarter of 2010.  London saw the most dramatic increase with a 16.6% rise in rental prices, with the Capital’s average rent rising by £274 per month, with properties fetching £1,925pcm.

Demand for available housing stock has lead to a 4.2 rise of further rental properties on the market in Q4 compared to Q3, but as rents in the social sector will rise to an 80% market value this year, experts expect many social sector tenants will join the ranks of the PRS, resulting in a severe shortage of rental properties.

Nigel Lewis, the property analyst at Findaproperty.com, said:
“Market conditions are a perfect storm for buy-to-let landlords at the moment. Although property prices are coming down very slightly, first-time buyers are still finding it hard to get on the ladder and mortgages remain mostly unaffordable. Rental demand is still extremely strong.

“It’s no wonder that more stock is coming on to the market – people with spare property see an opportunity to make a good return on their investment and are returning to the buy-to-let market in a way we haven’t seen since early 2009.

“And while the increase in stock this quarter hasn’t slowed down the increase in rental prices, it will be interesting to see if this leads to weaker prices in 2011.”

A report by ARLA (Association of Residential Letting Agents) on Q3 of 2010 also confirmed a rise in rents and an overall capital asset value on rented houses of 9.0% in the UK outside of prime central London and the South East.

2010 saw no seasonal decline in demand for rented houses and flats as is usual in November and December, instead demand rose steadily and consistently throughout the year.