Average Rents Hit All Time High

According to new figures released by ARLA Propertymark, the percentage of tenants experiencing rent hikes was at the highest level ever recorded in August reaching 40% - up from 31% a month earlier. This is the highest figure recorded since records began in January 2015. Year on year, this figure has increased from 35 per cent in August 2017 and 27 per cent in August 2016. Demand from prospective tenants fell significantly, with the number of house-hunters registered per branch dropping by 19 per cent in August to 64 on average, compared to 79 in July. Year on year, demand is down 11 per cent as there were 72 prospective tenants registered per letting agent branch in August 2017. Read more on the ARLA website.

http://www.arla.co.uk/lobbying/private-rented-sector-reports/

London Has Highest Landlord Costs In UK But This Is Offset By Higher Rent

London has been identified as the most expensive part of Britain to be a landlord, followed by the South East while the North East of England is the cheapest. The average cost for a landlord in London, excluding any mortgage and tax and including void periods, is £6,535 a year, or 32% of rental income, according to the research from lender Kent Reliance. This compares to the average cost nationwide of £3,632 per year for landlords but this is still a chunk of income, amounting to 34% of rent coming in as landlords get higher rents in London which is offsetting some of the higher costs. Read more on Property Wire.

Call For Affordable Housing In London

The high cost of renting a house in London has fuelled a huge increase in the number of people in the capital who do not have enough income for a decent standard of living, a study shows. Research for the Trust for London charity found 3.5 million Londoners have less money to meet their basic needs and have a minimum level of living, an increase of 400,000 since 2010. The increased cost of private renting was singled out which has risen four times as much as in the rest of the UK, said the report. Although single adults in the rest of the country have benefited from the National Living Wage, those in London are less able to afford a decent standard of living than before the rate came in last year. Read more on Yahoo Finance.

Benefit Cap Will Hit 116,000 Of Poorest Families

More than 116,000 of the poorest households in the UK will be hit by the extended benefit cap, putting many at risk of homelessness. Nearly 320,000 children live in households likely to be affected by the cap introduced from 7 November. In some cases families will lose up to £115 a week, pushing them into deeper poverty. The cap rollout, which will be completed by the end of January 2017, limits total household benefits to £23,000 (£442 a week) in London and £20,000 outside the capital (£385 a week). Unlike the benefit cap introduced in 2013, which mainly hit households in high-rent areas such as London, the extended cap will have an impact on families in all areas of the country. Read more on the Guardian website.

Millions At Risk Of Losing Their Home

Soaring rents and a post-Brexit rise in unemployment could create a ‘toxic cocktail’ for millions of working renters because of large gaps in the housing benefit ‘safety net’, according to ‘Renters At Risk’, a new report by Royal London. The report found millions of workers renters could find that housing benefit would not cover the full cost of their rent in the event of losing their job. Based on the Government’s 2013/14 Family Resources Survey, the report found 5.5 million working renters would be at risk of losing their home due to gaps in the housing benefit ‘safety net’, up from 2 million in 2003/04. Download the report from the Royal London website.

Energy Policy A ‘Tax On Tenants’

Tenants may face higher rents due to the impact of energy efficiency. New laws mean that from 2018 it will be illegal to rent out property with the worst energy efficiency levels. The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) is warning that having removed all support for landlords to fund this, the impact will be to raise rents for tenants. Nearly a third of private rented housing was constructed before 1919, making them some of the hardest to treat properties for energy efficiency improvements. Read more on the RLA website.

Tenants Hit Hard As Rents Reach Record High

Tenants are being hit by record-high rents and the added cost of the Government's stamp duty rise on buy-to-let properties, a report has found. Rents rose at their fastest rate for six months in April, hitting an average of £793 across England and Wales, according to the latest Buy-to-Let index. The study from Your Move and Reeds Rains means tenants have seen an increase of 0.3% month-on-month, while rents are also 2.4% higher compared to the same point last year. The average tenant is now paying an extra £19 a month, with rents reaching all-time highs in the East of England, the West Midlands and the East Midlands, the research revealed. Download the Index from the Your Move website.

Thinktank Calls For Low-Cost Rent Funding

An influential centre-right thinktank has urged the government to provide substantial funding for affordable rent after warning Starter Homes will be “inaccessible to the poorest”. The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) expressed concerns that the government’s housing programme “does not address the new challenges low-income families face”. Its report said the government should fund homes for affordable rent, rather than simply subsidising homeownership, especially in London and high-rent areas. Download the report from the CSJ website.

Families Skimp On Heat To Meet Housing Costs

High rents and mortgages in England mean too many families are skimping on heating and winter clothes to make ends meet, says housing charity Shelter. More than a quarter (27%) of 853 parents of under-18s said they had cut winter spending to meet housing costs. And 10% told researchers they feared being unable to pay rents or mortgages in January. The government said its work to tackle the deficit was helping more people stay in their homes. A shortage of affordable homes has left families struggling with sky-high housing costs, says the charity, while last year more than 100,000 people phoned its helpline for housing debt advice. Read more on the BBC website.