Number of rent rises falls for second month in a row, say agents

The number of tenants experiencing rent increases fell for the second month in a row according to ARLA Propertymark.

Its latest snapshot - which looks at October’s market - shows that in that month just 37 per cent of agents witnessed landlords increasing rent compared to 40 per cent in September and 48 per cent in August.

The October 2020 figure is 13 per cent down on a year earlier when the figure stood at 50 per cent.  

Meanwhile the number of new prospective tenants this year rose to the highest on record for the month of October, with an average of 88 per branch. 

Regionally, the West Midlands had the highest number of new tenants registered per branch, with an average of 173, and Scotland had the lowest figure with an average of just 30 new prospective tenants registered per branch.

The number of properties managed per letting agent branch rose from 193 in September to 213 in October. Year-on-year this is an all-time high for the month of October, with the previous record being 201 in 2019.

The number of landlords selling their buy to let properties fell from five per branch in September, to four in October.

“This month’s figures are testament to the fact that letting agents are continuing to support landlords and their tenants during the pandemic, with rent increases continuing to fall for a second month in a row” explains Angela Davey, president of ARLA Propertymark. 

“As the UK experiences continued lockdown measures and regional restrictions, it is essential that tenancies are maintained to keep the rent flowing as the stability of the private rental sector is key to the economy’s bounce back from the impact of Covid-19.”