Letting agents have a bumper September

Letting agents are happy according to September's PRS report from the Association of Residential Letting Agents. It appears PRS is continuing to enlarge, with agents reporting an 18 month supply high.

Key points

• Number of rentals per agency branch at an 18 month high (average 40)
• A rise in tenant demand ( average of 40 new tenant registrations )
• Agents seeing rent hikes has fallen to lowest level this year

ARLA's M.D, David Cox, comments-

“This month’s findings paint a really positive picture for renters. Although demand is rising, we’ve seen this happen gradually over the course of the year, and would expect it to slow again in line with seasonal trends over the next few months. On the other hand, the supply of rental stock has risen astronomically, which suggest it’s not quite right that landlords are pulling out of the market as a result of Brexit. This is supported in our findings, which reveal the number of landlords selling their buy-to-let properties hasn’t changed since April, when three landlords were selling up per branch.

“It’s good to see less landlords hiking rents this month, but 24 per cent is still too high. The cost of renting is already high in many parts of the country and until the Government converts its pledges and promises into bricks and mortar, we won’t see renters reach a position where they’re able to save to get on the housing ladder. It will be interesting to see how this is tackled in the upcoming Autumn Statement.”

Go to ARLA's statement

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