Is it just me or are rents skyrocketing?

subjecttocontract

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.

Well the secret of course is to make sure you, like me, are not the 'average native Joe'.......and I certainly wouldn't be in the queue to live in Leicester or in fact anywhere in the midlands as an average anybody.

I think the example you give of over supply applies to many other large cities such as Sheffield, Manchester & Leeds. There are always going to be exceptions to every rule but there are many hundreds of thousands of properties that are not city centre, new build, luxury, overpriced pads that will end up being sold at a fraction of their original price.

SquatNow

Asking rents will rise.

So will voids.

Money is tight and mortgage costs are rising.

Everyone and his sister is now looking for a lodger.

poppy10_2

North Yorkshire rents also seem to be on the rise, average 2 bed place is £50-£75 dearer than last year

SquatNow

poppy10 wrote: »

North Yorkshire rents also seem to be on the rise, average 2 bed place is £50-£75 dearer than last year

ASKING rents.

brit1234

Ever article i have read from vested interests on buy to let articles is encouraging rents to go up. I think the rent increases will be limited to the south east, there is to much buy to let flats empty above the south east to generate the higher rents.

However the thing about rents is that they are linked to wages and can go up only so much unlike mortgages that are restricted by lending criteria at the time.

Its going to be a interesting watch as buy to let flats are increasingly sold by investors and their equity disappears as prices fall. I wonder what happens when the equity used to purchase further properties in portfolios disappears and how the banks act.

beingjdc

Normally in a housing crash, rents rise - that's certainly true. Hard to be certain about this one. I suspect they will rise for a while, the long term depends on what happens to buy-to-let flats etc belonging to overmortgaged muppets (bought by debt-free investors at auction? bought by housing associations?) and also wages - you can't put the rents up far if people physically haven't got the money. If your tenants are from Eastern Europe, they have an easy alternative right now - move to a country with low rents and a huge labour shortage.

pickles110564

SquatNow wrote: »

ASKING rents.

Squatty with all your BTL properties you must be in a prime position to be able to comment on this fact.
However I am in a position to be able to confirm that I am able to ask for higher rents at the moment and to achieve them as people are contacting me at the moment for vacant places to rent and I never have to advertise for new tenants as I fill my places by word of mouth.
I must be one of those bad LL's you are always slagging off that find it impossible to fill their empty BTL's?
I must be one of BTL's that will find it hard when prices are crashing and will find it hard to sleep at night.
The only thing I wish for is that you suffer pain that you are wishing on normal homeowners that you hate with a passion just because you were not clever enough to buy your own house before the boat left the dock:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Microstar_2

I have been a LL for 20 years, so I have a fair bit of experience as to what happens when house prices dip and unemployment rises.
There is a lot of wishful thinking on this board and I think some of the Johnny-come-lately landlords are severely lacking in foresight. At the end of the day you can't get blood out of a stone. If someone is strapped for cash then they have to look for other alternatives (i.e. stay with mum and dad, shack up with a mate, lodge rather than rent their own place, whatever). I think one of the things that we are seeing in the cities is that as the cost of higher education rises, and accommodation has become less affordable, more and more students are staying at home, parents buying them a car and they are commuting to a local university. This is having an impact on 'university towns' and there is a knock-on effect into other types of accommodation (i.e. non-student properties).
If we go into recession (which I think is quite possible given the way things are stacking up) then the immigration inflow will go into reverse (they are not eligible for any benefits if they can't get work) and demand will slacken further.

poppy10_2

SquatNow wrote: »

ASKING rents.

True, but there isn't much room for negotiation - I'm currently looking for a place myself. No-one's reducing. :mad:

Rick62

Rents definately going up, having not risen in 2006 my rent increased last year by £25/month (2% increase). This was mainly because the agent caught me offguard with a demand for £50 and not thinking quickly I couldn't think of a good reason for no increase, but pointed out that inflation is only 2%! :rotfl:

The idea that rents will rise because prices are falling makes no sense, clearly you don't need an O'level in economics (or even a GCSE) to be a BTL landlord. In the current climate any sane landlord will be grateful for any solvent tenant. Maybe some LLs can achieve their asking prices, but I reckon there is probably usually lots of room for negotiation.