Agent’s unique insight into “no end in sight” rental crisis

A managing partner at a letting agency has given an insight into the unique forces which he says is “strangling” the area in which he operates.

Robert Lewis is managing partner at Balmforth agency in Mildenhall in Suffolk, and he has explained to the East Anglian Daily Times website that a mix of government policies, demand from USAF air bases and a lack of affordable homes have 'strangled' the rental market in his town.

He says: “One of the underlying issues that has been in place in this area for a while is that because American tenants get such high allowances and make for good tenants, if you are investing in rental properties in the area you will invest in somewhere to cater for those American tenants. Various government policies, as well as a lack of new house building have strangled the supply at the lower end of the market. 

"Every day we'll get three or four email enquiries, three or four phone calls, three or four visits from people looking for a three-bedroom house for their family, something at seven or eight hundred pounds a month, and we have nothing.

"If I search Mildenhall on Rightmove and put 'under 900' which is what lots of lower income families would want, no properties are available.

In the article Lewis says planning restrictions make many housebuilding projects less appealing for developers, while interest rate increases make it harder for buyers and stamp duty deters some landlords. 

And he concludes: “It could have very significant knock-on effects for employers looking to employ because there is no where for people to live. There is just a massive, massive shortage of properties and no end in sight, that is the worrying thing." 

You can see the article here.