The number of letting agents reporting landlords increasing rents has hit a 14-month high, new figures show.
According to the Association of Residential Letting Agents, the number of agents who saw landlords increase rent costs for tenants rose to 31% in June, up from 27% the previous month.
ARLA said that rent stock increased marginally last month, while demand dropped slightly.
The report showed that the number of properties managed per member branch increased marginally in June to 190 from 189 in May. In June last year, letting agents managed just 176 properties on average.
The report revealed that 83% of letting agents would like the Government to scrap the impending ban on letting agent fees, while 73% would also like the Government to focus on improving enforcement for rogue agents.
More than one in five (62%) want to see increased regulation for the sector, while a 26% think they should provide tax breaks to encourage longer term tenancies.
David Cox, ARLA Propertymark chief executive, said: “With the cost of living on the rise and inflationary pressures tightening, the last thing tenants need is for their rents to continue rising.
“However, the fact that supply looks to be rising, while demand has dropped slightly indicates a move in the right direction for the market. Ultimately, to stop rent prices from increasing too much, we need to find the balance between supply and demand. While there’s still a long way to go, if the supply of rental stock continues to increase, and the number of tenants searching for new properties drops off, we’ll be making headway towards achieving this.”
Sheraz Dar, CEO of CreditLadder.co.uk, said: “Many people warned the government that its latest tax increases for landlords, and changes to stamp duty, would push up rents and the ARLA figures show this appears to be taking place,” says Sheraz.
“This is going to put even more pressure on many tenants’ disposable income and make it more difficult for tenants to save up to buy their first home.
“We need more properties to be made available to rent in the UK and reduce pressure on rents, but the government seems very keen to stop private landlords helping achieve this.”
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