Christmas season sees rents dip
Tenants struggling with rising rents have been given some festive cheer as reports confirm that rents have dipped slightly over November and December as Landlords look to have their properties occupied over the Christmas period. November recorded the first month on month fall since the start of this year. The average rent however is still £25 more expensive than it was a year ago, according to recent statistics from LSL Property Services, with prices up 3.5% this year.
The fall in rents may also be due to a lack of tenants wanting to move over the festive period and this of course is likely to rise again in January. However, November saw average rents across England dip by 0.4% with the biggest drop noticed in the East Midlands and the South East, showing falls of 2.2% and 2.1% respectively. The only regions to see rents rise were the West Midlands and our own Yorkshire and Humberside, where rents continued to rise by 1% and 1.2% respectively.
Despite the seasonal fluctuations outlined above, rents have generally risen in every region across the UK, although the picture can vary from region to region. London and the South East recorded rent rises of 4.2%, leaving London monthly rental costs at an average of £1033 – almost double that of the North East which has average rents of £514 and which also boasts the slowest annual rise of just 0.3%.
David Newnes, Director of LSL Property Services, confirmed that “Landlords are looking to avoid having properties vacant over the Christmas period, and can be less aggressive with pricing as tenant activity slows in the run up to the New Year” but pointed out that this is unlikely to have any long term effect, saying “the limited supply of rental accommodation means there will still be strong upward pressure on rents in the early part of 2012”. This view was echoed by Jonathan Moore, Director of easyroommate.co.uk who commented “with the cost of moving set to soar for first time buyers when the stamp duty holiday ends in March, the strain on the private rented sector will be greater than ever and the cost of renting will continue to increase”.
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