Rents Are Going Through The Roof

[expatowner]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/money/3287087/Why-rents-are-going-through-the-roof.html

Figures last night showed rents hit a record high for the THIRD month in a row.

The average monthly rate in November hit £692 as more and more Brits turn to renting.

Property consultants LSL said charges in London have risen almost ten per cent in the past year to £992.

[@contradevian]

http://www.thesun.co...h-the-roof.html

Figures last night showed rents hit a record high for the THIRD month in a row.

The average monthly rate in November hit £692 as more and more Brits turn to renting.

Property consultants LSL said charges in London have risen almost ten per cent in the past year to £992.

Not sure about rents, but my letting agent in Kirklees is busy, busy, busy with houses especially being snapped up. Also seen about half a dozen "To Let" signs go in the run up to Christmas. He says there is still plenty of sh*t about there is a shortage of quality properties. Always the way. I think he as over egging it a bit, and I'm convinced he;s having to make deals to accomodate less credit worthy renters, but he's certainly buoyant . As I was leaving four immigrants (all men) came in to pick up keys to a house which no doubt they would be sharing.

Edited December 17, 2010 by Sir John Steed

[1888]

whats the motive ?

buying is better than renting so get back on the ladder you basturts- raise HPs

promoting btl as a win win - raise HPs

attempts to start a rent hike war - raise their own profits

[Reck B]

Renters of the country unite! and renegotiate your rents down at your next renewal. My house was on the market for £1200 and empty for 3 months before I had my offer of £900 accepted. I'm going to push them down again in April for ignoring my request to fix the gas fire in the lounge. they can either take a month or more finding another tenant, losing > £900 rent, or accept £50 less and lose a maximum of £750 over the year.

[Bruce Banner]

LSL are putting this about a lot aren't they - a clarion call?

Plus they've bought out the Acadametrics stuff replacing the FT.

I don't trust them an inch. Need an audit.

EDIT: Just like to say that rents tend to go down with prices.

It is a fallacy to say that rents go up as more people are opting to rent instead of buy.

You know that, I know that, they know that, but it doesn't stop them saying it at every opportunity.... it's their job .

[rantnrave]

Well if rents are going up, be sure to get your money's worth folks. I've got somebody round right now fixing a leaky radiator, at no extra cost to myself I might add .

[WageslaveX14]

I've been on the same rent in London Zone 1 for 2 1/2 years.

My rent is about 8% more than it was in early 2006, and I would just refuse to pay any increase. The flat below me was empty from late August until last week, so I'm confident the LL wouldn't want to risk any more voids.

That said, I'm actually now seeing houses for sale in London that match my sense of value for money - could now get a 10 year fixed repayment mortgage on a much bigger flat for exactly the same amount of money as I'm paying in rent. I'm almost tempted to buy a flat now.

[Lepista]

Our landlord has given us a months free rent for xmas (2nd year in a row), and this year has:

- re-roofed the double garage;

- had people in to put somw weather protection stuff on the driveway (took 3 people 2 days to do!)

- replaced the cooker extractor thingy

- replaced the dryer

- replaced one of the two fridges

PRetty good deal from our point of view. Certainly we are paying much less in rent than we would be in mortgage payments if we were wanting to buy the place. plus we don't have any of the ongoing costs or depreciation costs, and we can move within one month of handing in our notice.

Yep, renting at the minute is pretty cushty.

[Caveat Mortgagor]

Nothing to see. Estate agent says rents are rising (sub-text you're a fool not to buy!) Letting agent says rents are rising (sub-text we want more money from you and we will put out a news story under a different name to support the prices we are asking!)

http://www.lslps.co.uk/about.html

LSL’s estate agency business operates under the Your Move, Reeds Rains, Intercounty and several independent brands. In January 2010 the acquisition of the Halifax Estate Agency (HEA) business from the Lloyds Banking Group saw LSL increase in size to become the second largest UK estate agency network - with around 570 branches.

Your Move

Your Move is the single largest estate agency brand in the UK*, with a network of over 330 branches.

It is also the largest letting agency in the UK.**

Reeds Rains

Reeds Rains is a predominantly a northern based estate agency brand with a network of 210 branches.

LSLi

LSLi is the holding company to several estate agency businesses based largely in the Home Counties which together have a network of 31 branches.

Edited December 17, 2010 by Caveat Mortgagor

[Pytyr]

Yeah, I saw this Beeb article this mornig about the same thing. So I thought I'd check the rent index.

Percentage change

12 months 6 months 3 months 1 month

+1.761% +3.047% -0.560% -0.422%

So.. another nonsense artcle from them and the Sun.

In the article they actually say

November's rise was mainly due to strong demand for rented property in London, where rents had increased by 1.8% last month.

Elsewhere they were now falling - down by 3.1% in eastern England and 2.4% in the East Midlands during November alone.

They also dropped by 1.9% in the south-east of England and by 0.6% in the north-west of England.

So the Beeb says UK rents are rising when only London rents are rising but the Sun say they're rising across the board on the year while they are actually falling in most palces now.

falling house prices mean greedy people take their homes off the market and rent them out until things get "back to normal". Less houses up for sale, more houses up for rent mean rents falling pretty quick, which is backed up by what I see on PB. Falling particularly fast in flats and 1 bedroom "houses" but lots of increased supply in family homes.

Most people renting out family homes just want enough to cover most of the mortgage but would rather just have someone who will look after the place they hope to sell one day, so will not push hard on any rent or increases. That leaves the "professional" LL in a bit of a bind. What a shame.