Rents are at an all-time high, and I fear they are about to go up another 5%, says property expert Jonathan Rolande
Social media is a great barometer of public opinion and the general state of things. You need to ignore the cranks and those with a political agenda, but it is possible to see what is really going on in the real world.
I haven’t looked on Facebook for a while, about a year in fact. So this week I thought I’d take a look. As well as the usual birthday photos and complaints about bad parking in the supermarket car park, there was something new, or at least something much more prominent than ever before.
I’m a member of some local town groups that are now full of hard-pressed tenants searching for property. Many make difficult reading. Families who have just received a rent increase letter and can’t afford to remain, others whose home is being sold.
It is clear by reading them that those without a perfect credit rating, those with pets, those with children even, are finding the hunt for a new home almost impossible.
Those with children are finding the hunt for a new home almost impossible
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With a shortage of property and an abundance of reliable tenants, landlords and their agents are cherry-picking the best available.
It’s understandable. We’d likely all do the same to protect our investment, but it highlights an issue that I don’t remember seeing before.
There is a new group of people who are at the complete mercy of their landlord. When evicted, they have little hope of finding an equivalent property in their budget, rents have raced up that fast.
And it’s not a small minority. Millions are in the ‘just getting by’ category and that demographic does not suit a landlord inundated with eager tenants.
Currently, it’s estimated that 46 per cent of people here in Britain have less than £1,000 in savings, and 25 per cent have less than £200.
It is not surprising that they cannot afford double-digit percentage rises or find four-figure deposits for their new home.
The average monthly rent is now £1,238 – which is £102 higher than 12 months ago.
The pace of huge increases in rents over the last couple of years is slowing, we are reaching the top of affordability, wages have not kept pace with the rises.
Yet demand remains at a near all time high so fierce competition for properties will continue.
That’s why I fear by the end of this year around five per cent will have been added to the average rent.
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