Rental Voids Reach All Time Low

By:
Madalena Penny

According to the latest survey from ARLA, (Association of Letting Agents) the number of residential rental voids has fallen on properties from 3.6 weeks to 3.2 weeks in Q2 of this year, the lowest recorded.

Compared with the last quarter of 2009, which revealed a void period of 4 weeks, the survey adds further evidence to ‘tenant trending’ indicating that the private rented sector is becoming an all increasingly popular alternative to home-ownership.

Operations Manager of ARLA, Ian Potter, said:

“The new government must ensure that finance is made available to the sector, so that more properties can be brought into the PRS and ensure that more rental homes are made available.”

As is common in the sector, the lull experienced in the last quarter of the year shows no evidence of a decline in interest from tenants.  Letting agents are hard pressed to supply available residential stock for the wave of demand.

Binder Dhillon, Finance Director for landlord services provider, Legal 4 Landlords’, said:

“Each month we are hitting new record highs for tenant referencing, giving rise to an indication of the popularity of rental accommodation.  Since January we have affiliated with a further 1000 letting agents and now have a network of over 2500 letting agent affiliations across the UK.

“In certain hotspots such as Manchester, Merseyside, London & Edinburgh, letting agents are establishing additional offices to cater for the influx of rental demand.  Agents are reporting 5.5 tenants for each available residential property, making the sector particularly buoyant.  A shortage of housing stock hindered by BTL lending is making it difficult for experienced and responsible landlords to increase their portfolios.”

As properties are being snapped up by tenants, data suggests it is only the undesirable properties at the lower end of the market that remain un-let for longer periods.