Nearly a third of landlords have increased rents during the first quarter of the year, research from buy-to-let mortgage specialist Paragon has revealed. Paragon research shows that 32 per cent of landlords have raised rents across their portfolios during the period.
One in 10 landlords said that rental income across their portfolio rose by up to 2 per cent during the period, with a further 10 per cent stating that it rose by between 2 per cent and 4 per cent. However, nearly 5 per cent of respondents said that rental income had risen by more than 8 per cent.
Nigel Terrington, Paragon Group chief executive, said: “Supply and demand dictates rental pricing and landlords are experiencing significant tenant demand for their properties at present. Obviously landlords do not want to make rented accommodation unaffordable, but a considerable proportion of them have been able to make small increases to their overall rental income during the first quarter.”
“Government figures show that nearly 300,000 extra households moved into privately rented accommodation in England alone last year and that is placing increasing strain on stock in the sector. It is encouraging that buy-to-let lending increased by 22 per cent during 2010, but more needs to be done to ensure that the private rented sector can expand to sufficiently meet tenant demand.”
The Communities and Local Government’s English Housing Report, published in February, shows that the number of households renting privately has risen by one million since 2005-06, from 2.4 million to 3.4 million in 2009-10. The PRS now accounts for 15.6 per cent of all households in England, up from 14.2 per cent in 2008-09 and 11.7 per cent in 2005-06. This equates to nearly one in every six households.
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