Landlords Making Best Returns In 17 Months

Rents are picking up in England and Wales as landlords begin to pass on higher taxes from the Treasury to tenants. The average rent grew 3.3% over the year to February 2016, hitting £791 a month, according to the buy-to-let index from Your Move and Reeds Rains. In February 2015, the annual growth rate was 3.1%. Month-on-month, the increase was 0.1%, the first monthly rise since September 2015. When taking into account rent and house price growth over the 12 months to February, landlords made an average return of 12.7% on their investment — a 17-month high. Read more on the International Business Times website.

Landlords Call For Shake-Up of Rent Formula Rules

Senior housing figures have called for rent levels to be based on annual average inflation figures, as new statistics revealed the average rent charged by social landlords increased 6.3 per cent in the past year. The HCA’s annual survey showed the average rent for large housing associations’ properties had risen to £88.40 a week at the end of March, compared with £83.20 at the same point the previous year.  Most of the increase was a result of setting the annual rate based on just one month’s inflation figures. England’s annual rent formula is based on the retail price index in the preceding September, with 2011’s rate at 5.6 per cent.  Read more on Inside Housing.