Landlord's Selling Up - Leaving Tenants In Trouble

A lack of new stock has led to record asking rents in all areas across Great Britain except Scotland and the North East, new House Price Index data has revealed.

There was a temporary influx of rental properties throughout 2016 and into 2017 – caused by landlords who bought before the stamp duty surcharge came in – but that stock has now tailed off and is currently 13% lower than Q3 2015, before any of these changes were introduced.

“It is no longer as lucrative to be a landlord due to a number of new rules brought in by the Government. Meaning Landlord’s are selling up and not buying. Leaving us with a major supply and demand issue. The overall feeling among those landlords who are planning to exit the market is one of frustration with many saying that the tax changes mean it’s no longer financially attractive to keep their properties.”

When asked about their future plans, almost a quarter of landlords (24%) say they are looking to sell at least one property from their current portfolio; this is made up of 13% who say they will be decreasing their portfolio and one in ten (11%) who say they will be selling all of their rental properties.

Asking rents outside London are now at a record high of £828 PCM, bolstered by the biggest quarterly jump at this time of year since 2015, while the annual rate of price change rises to +3.2%, an increase not seen since 2016.

“What we really need now is more properties available to rent. Rising rents may tempt some landlords back in, but momentum is currently to downsize portfolios in spite of the prospect of increasing yields.”