Rental tenants anticipate a price hike in the next 12 months, according to the latest Consumer Rental Forecast from Rightmove.
It reports that 60 per cent of tenants expect rent to be higher this time next year, an increase on 53 per cent who said the same in 2011.
London and the South East are the most expectant of a rise (66 per cent and 62 per cent respectively), areas where more than 50 per cent of take-home pay is already spent on rent.
Housing market analyst Miles Shipside said: “The view from the majority of tenants across the country is that rents are only likely to go one way, and that’s up.
“London and the surrounding commuter belt of the South East have the greatest proportion of respondents predicting higher rents, suggesting that these markets are most at risk of ‘over-heating’ and most in need of further investment from investor-landlords.
“The continuing heat applied to rents is a double-whammy for the one in two tenants that would like to buy but can’t afford to. These ‘trapped renters’ are faced with the prospect of a downward spiral where spending more income on rent also means saving less for a deposit.”
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