Rents up again.....

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Tenants in London pay 50% more in rent than the national average, according to the HomeLet Rental Index.

The survey, which collects data from 3,000 letting agents around the UK, found the average rent increased slightly by 0.4% in June to £750, but rents in Greater London rose by 0.54% to the record average level of £1,125. Rent in London has risen by 12% in the year to the end of June.

Vince Demilio, head of field sales in London, said: "Back in 2009, rents in London were only 38% higher than the national average, compared to the 50% difference we've seen in July. This is something we can expect to continue in the near future with the city hosting next year's Olympic Games."

But the biggest monthly increase was in the north-west where rents rose from £586 in May to £621 in June – a 6% jump.

Year-on-year, most parts of the UK have seen rents rise – the only area to see a fall in agreed rents was the east Midlands.

However, while tenants' average incomes have also risen by 3.7% over the year, it dipped slightly in June to £27,373 from £27,494 in May. The average income in Greater London is £38,299 – 40% higher than the national average.

Heidi Abbott, sales, operations and marketing director for the organisation, said: "Over the past year, as rents have remained high, younger 'first-time renters' with lower incomes have been staying at home longer because they can't afford to rent, which is similar to the situation we've seen in the sales market over the past few years."

Nevertheless, research published by the communities and local government department shows the number of people renting privately owned accommodation in England has soared by 55% in the past six years.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/jul/07/london-rents-higher-national-average

Some interesting stuff there.

Seems to me that....

-Not enough houses being built for the growing population so house prices remain high despite the credit crunch/recession.

-People can't get a mortgage so have to rent.

-That pushes up rents even further, so more people have to stay at home.

-Yet the number of people in rented keeps increasing anyway...... Due to the population growing.

All seems inevitable really, the only way out is to build more houses, which won't happen until mortgage availability improves. Builders won't build what they can't sell after all....

Graham_Devon

So more people stay at home, while more people rent houses, though not enough houses are built.

Some confusing stuff going on there Hamish.

Bought the BTL yet, or are you watching the ship sail?

Generali

Interesting that tenant's incomes are rising faster than average.

DervProf

Generali wrote: »

Interesting that tenant's incomes are rising faster than average.

OK people, here's this year's pay awards. Homeowners will get 2%, those in rented accommodation will get 5%.

Nah, that can't be right. Can it ?

Pimperne1

Graham_Devon wrote: »

So more people stay at home, while more people rent houses, though not enough houses are built.

Some confusing stuff going on there Hamish.

Bought the BTL yet, or are you watching the ship sail?

Think of it this way. Same number of houses, more people who require them.

geneer

Pimperne1 wrote: »

Think of it this way. Same number of houses, more people who require them.

Uh huh. Exactly what was being said in 2007 as I recall.

Generali

DervProf wrote: »

OK people, here's this year's pay awards. Homeowners will get 2%, those in rented accommodation will get 5%.

Nah, that can't be right. Can it ?

Possibly it's due to the low paid young being forced back to living with their parents??? Just a thought.

Procrastinator333

Don't see it personally. No rent increase since moved in 3 years ago. I look around today and could if anything find better places for the same cash.

But hey ho, not too long to go with renting either way. Had an offer accpeted on a house, just waiting for the mortgage to be sorted.

Pimperne1

geneer wrote: »

Uh huh. Exactly what was being said in 2007 as I recall.

You're going to have to post a link to me saying that.

Pimperne1

Procrastinator333 wrote: »

Don't see it personally. No rent increase since moved in 3 years ago. I look around today and could if anything find better places for the same cash.

But hey ho, not too long to go with renting either way. Had an offer accpeted on a house, just waiting for the mortgage to be sorted.

What direction do you see house prices going from here as a matter of interest (its just that the major bears who have jumped ship recently have provided "I know prices are still going to fall quite a bit but I managed to get a good price so that is factored in").

geneer

Pimperne1 wrote: »

You're going to have to post a link to me saying that.

Who mentioned you pumper?

But lets be clear.
Are you claiming that the old Supply vs Demand argument wasn't used prior to 2007?