Is it just me or are rents skyrocketing?

Gingernutmeg

I think it depends where you are though ... I'm not too far from Greenwich and rents round here actually haven't gone up *that* much in the past six months - my AST is due for renewal soon so I've been looking at what's available and what prices are like, and they've actually remained pretty static. I will admit though that where I live is probably the kind of place that falls into the 'chav infested scumhole' category, it's definitely not an area for 'young professionals', but heck, I'm saving for a deposit so I can deal with it for a few years, it's not *that* bad.

We used to live in SW London (not far from Wimbledon, as a matter of fact) and that area IS expensive - our old flat is now renting for over £1000 pcm. SE London is a heck of a lot cheaper, if you choose your area. It's about compromise - personally I can deal with a longer commute/chavvy area if I know I'm saving money

otter1_2

beingjdc wrote: »

We're paying 1235 for a 2-bed 2-bath in South Bermondsey, and it hasn't gone up since Autumn 2006, there's a 1-bed upstairs going for 975 a month, but there's a pretty similar one to ours going up the road for only £5 a week more

http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.aspx?edid=00&salerent=1&pid=865480&agentid=03154

It is chav filled hell, but that's life! North London and Wimbledon have been expensive for as long as I can remember, compared to Greenwich. I'd be interested to know where otter1 lives though - I haven't seen an area of london where a mortgage would be less than about 150% of the rent.

SW1. Just did a comparison to find a similar property for rent and the monthly rent is pretty much exactly 1.5 times what we are about to shell out on a repayment mortgage. Admittedly there is then a service charge on top of that, which adds another 10%, but all other bills are applicable to rented or bought accommodation, so we're definitely better off.

beingjdc

SW1?! Christ have you won the lottery or what? I see the cheapest 1-bed in Pimlico is currently on for £275k, so around £1300 a month interest. Similar to rent is £290 a week, so I guess yeah, it's a fairly close thing in Pimlico but I'm not seeing 1.5x more than repayment, I guess it might be for larger properties where there are more to buy than rent.

m00m00

property bee works with rental properties too

and i'm seeing FAR more reductions than rises as far as rents go here. In fact I don't think I've seen a single rent increase, but well into double figures on the amount of reductions

Guy_Montag

I've seen one rent increase near me with propertybee (dh1) & loads of decreases.

m00m00

the new builds up for rent are particularly interesting

I've seen multiple reductions on a single property usually dropping the asking price by 25 quid per month, every week.

lostinrates

Austin_Allegro wrote: »

Don't forget that if the housing crisis deepens, cash-strapped mortgagees may decide to rent out their second bedrooms to lodgers, which will ease demand on the rental sector.

I recall this happened during the last crash - lots of places advertised as 'flat shares' which rather than being like Friends turned out to be surly couples reluctantly admitting 'paying guests'.

Oh, I hope so.....DH looking for somewhere to lodge through the week and as he only needs a place to sleep surly couples wanting a paying guest would suit him best! We're surprised by how much some people have asked in rent from lodgers in London too.

subjecttocontract

Wether you've seen recent rent rises or not had a rent rise since 2005......as sure as eggs is eggs.....when property prices fall, rents will rise. Its basic supply & demand. There may be a short lag between those two events but its sure to happen.

As all the demand to buy property dries up, people have to live somewhere, there is only a finite number of rental properties, so up go the rents.

Great news for landlords.....when property prices fall we get to pick up some fantastic bargains AND rental income rises. Ain't life sweet !:D

Microstar_2

subjecttocontract wrote: »

Wether you've seen recent rent rises or not had a rent rise since 2005......as sure as eggs is eggs.....when property prices fall, rents will rise. Its basic supply & demand. There may be a short lag between those two events but its sure to happen.

As all the demand to buy property dries up, people have to live somewhere, there is only a finite number of rental properties, so up go the rents.

Great news for landlords.....when property prices fall we get to pick up some fantastic bargains AND rental income rises. Ain't life sweet !:D

Not quite so simple my dear fellow. Here in the East Midlands house prices seem (at best) stagnant and rents are weak. Part of the reason is that a lot of apartments have been built recently and more are still in construction and will come onto the market later in the year. In Leicester, for example, De Montfort University has been building (in partnership) student apartments like there is no tomorrow. I think something like 2500 student rooms have been built over the last few years. This is in addition to all the 'luxury apartment' stuff that has gone up. This has had the effect of creating over-supply in the city.

London is very much a special case. Why anyone would want to actually live there is beyond me. Last time I visited parts of it resembled some vast third-world refugee camp. Quality of life for the average native Joe must be pretty poor.

Andy_Hamilton

Austin_Allegro wrote: »

Don't forget that if the housing crisis deepens, cash-strapped mortgagees may decide to rent out their second bedrooms to lodgers, which will ease demand on the rental sector. .

I have just got a lodger to fend off the credit crunch, My mortgage was 97% but after HL fees it's back up to 100%. With under 1 year before my mortgage deal is up for renewal / dropping onto standard rates I want to be able to pay off 10% (£8K).

I have a lodger Tuesday afternoon til saturday morning and the extra £270 per month (2 miles from Durham in 6 month old 3-bed house) will definatly help me dent my mortgage. Looking out my front window, both neighbours have brand new 08 reg cars and are in a much worst state than me.
It only took 5 days to get a lodger for my room but some of the ones advertised have been there for months, they are wanting too much money with nothing in return.

Supply and demand always finds it's level.