ARLA blame Stamp duty for lettings dip

The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) March Private Rental Sector (PRS) report has been published.  It shows both a fall in supply (down 4%) and demand.

The average letting agency branch reported having 169 rental properties on its books in March 2016, that compares to 192 in March 2015.

Prospective tenants registered per branch fell to 33 on average, down from 37 in the previous month, and 36 in March 2015.

ARLA blame Stamp duty reforms

“We don’t expect falling supply to stop here – the recent stamp duty changes are very likely to cause supply to decrease even further, as landlords withdraw from the market.

Not only do our agents predict that rent costs will increase further, but rental homes may also face a decline in quality over time, as landlords struggle to keep up with maintenance costs alongside the higher stamp duty charge. Whilst landlords adjust to the increase in costs we can expect to see one of three outcomes prevailing in the buy to let market: landlords absorbing the cost and taking the hit; landlords withdrawing from the market causing supply to fall; or landlords regaining those costs through hiking rents. Next month we can start to assess the damage.”

- ARLA's managing director David Cox

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