It’s official – tenants are facing higher rents…

Rent Increases:

Tenants higher facing higher rents because the demand for private rented housing is outstripping supply in most areas, that’s according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) research.

Landlords are being discouraged from investing while others are selling their rental properties in what is already an undersupplied marketplace, driving up rent prices.

Government policy over the last three years, in the form of punitive taxation changes and a challenging regulatory regime for landlords, is leading to a scarcity of suitable accommodation at an affordable price.

In their latest survey of the housing market, as reported by the RLA, RICS says that demand for private rented housing has increased for an eighth month in a row. This comes as supply continues to fall, a trend which RICS says stretches all the way back to 2016.

RICS warns that: “Given the consistent imbalance between rising demand and falling supply, rents are seen being squeezed higher over the next three months.”

The warning mirrors that of Professor David Miles, a former member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, who says in an exclusive article for the Residential Landlords Association that “rents are likely to be higher as supply gradually shrinks.”

David Smith, Policy Director the Residential Landlords Association, said:

“The Government’s approach to the private rented sector is hurting but it is not working. Despite its efforts to boost homeownership, demand for new rental properties is continuing to increase.

“It is plain wrong to be making landlords the scapegoat for the housing crisis. Ministers need to change tack and introduce a range of pro-growth measures to boost the supply of homes for private rent. If they fail it will be tenants who lose out as they face less choice and higher rents.”

·  RICS’ latest UK Residential Market Survey for August 2019 can be accessed here

·  Professor David Miles’ article for the RLA can be accessed in full here

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