Welcome to our weekly Newsround let us see what has caught our eye at Landlord Law this week.
Rents hit an all time high
The Goodlord Rental Index has recorded that the average cost of a property in England is up by 7.5% year on year. The average cost of a rental property is now £1470 compared to £1367 this time last year.
The South West has recorded the biggest year on year increase as rents are now 10% higher than July 2023. The smallest rental increase was in the West Midlands where rents are up by only 4% than last year.
East Midlands and the North East month on month costs are up be more than 20%. Greater London as seen the smallest of increases. Void periods are also lower than last year with 17 days in June last year to just 11 days in 2024.
William Reeve Chief Executive of Goodlord said
July’s figures have smashed rental price records and set a new baseline for the market’s busiest months. At the same time, voids have notably shortened, further highlighting the squeeze on supply.
All Jersey landlords hit by new licensing scheme
With effect from the 1st August it is illegal to rent out a property without a license in Jersey. This could see some landlords who have missed the deadline unable to rent out their properties until a licence has been granted.
The Rented Dwelling Scheme requires all landlords to have a licence for each property they rent out in Jersey. It was bought in on 1st May with a three month transition period in order for landlords to apply. It launched the licensing scheme to protect and improve rented homes there.
The government there has stated that it has more than 15,000 licences that have been applied for. Landlords can still apply for a licence but are not allowed to rent out their property until they are granted one.
Guarantors are becoming the norm
There has been a huge increase in the number of rental guarantors lately, this is due to the high demand for properties. Housing Hand, a rental guarantor service has seen an increase for its services increase by 50% during 2023 and it has now exceeded this for 2024 already.
Graham Hayward MD of Housing Hand says
Competition for rental homes is such that tenants are keen to do all they can to appeal to landlords. Those who already have all their paperwork in order, including a guarantee that rent will be paid, can demonstrate to landlords that the rental process will be both fast and smooth.
He adds that as one in five tenants have been asked to provide a guarantor just shows how large the demand is and renters must do all the can to secure properties.
Demand will remain high for rental property despite predicted easing
Zero Deposits, a tenancy deposit alternative, has released some statistics following their research into the number of tenants to available properties with forecasting trends up to 2030, and they state that the gap between the number of tenants against the available rental properties up for rent will close by 2030, but there will always be more than two tenants after each property.
Pre pandemic ratio stood at 2.28 tenants per property and it is now 2.19 tenants per property. They predict a further decline by 2030 to a ratio of 2.06 tenants per property.
Chief Exec Sam Reynolds says
PRS stock levels are expected to continue increasing over the coming years which should see the tenant to property ratio ease further and this could be boosted by Labour’s pledge to deliver 1.5m new homes.
Snippets
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One in eight homes for sale is an ex-rental – Zoopla
Landlords face £34,000 repair bill nightmare
Essex landlord banned for three years after HMO court case
See also our Quick News Updates on Landlord Law
Newsround will be back next week.