It helps to understand where the data from these reports comes from, in order to understand the flaws. Listen to this on Audio Podcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2109129/13721613
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/news/content/uploads/2023/10/Rental-Trends-Tracker-Q3-2023-FINAL.pdf
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1188064/DLUHC_How_to_rent_Oct2023.pdf
If you think I can help you out with your situation, you can book a 1 – 1 live video call with me at https://mhwc.co.uk
Talk to my mortgage brokers, conveyancers and search pack providers here: https://mhwc.co.uk/all-my-ducks
16 Comments
Damn, had no idea Rightmove was that extortionate for estate agents
As constant as the northern star❤
This is just anecdotal, but I've been looking around at rentals in our area (Herne Hill/Denmark Hill), it feels like there are reasonably priced rentals and pie in the sky priced rentals. The reasonably priced ones are getting snapped up, the crazy expensive ones aren't. I reckon landlords are getting killed by interest rates, they're trying to pass those costs onto renters who just don't have the money. You can't get blood from a stone, so they are ending up with vacant properties.
ONS says there were 9.3 million rental properties in the UK in 2021. 600,000 is only 6.5% of the entire rental market. So quite possible, particularly if many AST's are only 6 months and the Covid restriction on employing Section 21 to evict a tenant has expired.
This is a favourite trick in hmo land and student land to keep their name in front of landlords. I used William H Brown on my flat in Nottingham Ng7 3BB. The advert went on at approx 2pm on Monday and at 5:00 the successful applicant was already in the office filling in forms relying on the pictures. The agent had the pictures already because they had been selling and the buyer pulled out late in the proceedings. My property at £750 pcm today shows at let agreed (you made me look) and today an identical property in the same building has gone on £802 pcm. In April I let another in the building at £695.
Readers may think that we are all profiteering on this £90k property at 10% gross return but because I’m not buying in a limited company and need to generate equity to get out of 8% standard variable mortgages, I’m actually forecasting losses. I can’t subsidise tenants as a pensioner more than I’m already doing, so sorry if people are offended or shocked by these numbers.
Buyers pay sellers and the agents commission is based on final price so hence buyers are customers, no buyers no commission.
For those in Northern Ireland looking for a PropertyLog equivalent, Property Prices NI works on PropertyPal to show price history in NI👍🏻
Wrong move used to be agent owned at one time didn’t it? They are quite hard to knock off their perch.
Disregard the 1 min of intro guff you’re making your subscribers FFWD through
Considerations for peeps:
1) move in with a parent if possible
2) move in with a friend if possible and alleviate both yours and their cost burden
3) remote workers move to a cheap place in the UK for a year
4) all else fails, negotiate a lower rent based on benefit of the rental house not being vacant for an extra month or two
Hi Charlie
Hi Charlie – observations from a small indi Cornwall letting agent.
These stats from RM make our job as agents all the more difficult. So I disagree with why you think they’re doing this. It certainly doesn’t help agents. We don’t earn money on an empty property!
For the past 3-4 years, rents have been rising exceptionally fast month on month and demand has been crazy. But we’ve definitely seen a slowdown in demand since the summer.
Applicants are now tending to wait for cheaper, or more suitable property to come on the market, rather than the mad scramble to grab the first property they see. There’s still a healthy demand at the lower end but the higher and more luxury end of the market feels like its griding to a halt.
But its really hard to convey what we’re seeing (at the coalface, as you say!!).
I’ve been having quite a few painful discussions with landlords these past few weeks about rental prices, re what they think their property is worth. This is based on what they’re seeing on the portals and what’s being reported in the press v’s what we know we’ll get, based on tenant affordability and current local demand.
What they don’t understand is that what they see on portals are properties that aren’t shifting. We don’t even advertise the ones we know we’ll shift quickly and I’m sure we’re not the only ones. Just because a property has been advertised to rent at a particular price, doesn’t mean that’s what its worth.
I’m not quite sure what’s caused this (what feels like) quite a sudden slow down but I have a hunch that it’s a simple case of affordability. For a £1,500 pcm property as an example, a tenant would have to be earning £45k to pass the affordability check, our area’s average wage is circa £31k. So if a tenant’s income doesn’t reach the threshold, they won’t be eligible for a property, whether they love it or not and no matter how desperate they are.
Also, from a stats perspective for your info, most small indie's like us, don't use RM, as their fees are over £1k pcm!!! So proportionately there are more rental properties on Zoopla, OnTheMarket and local social media forums.
I ran a quick check on Zoopla for our area yesterday and there were 53 properties to rent. I did the same in Feb and it was 6. So yes, the rental market appears to be finally calming/slowing down, in my area at least. We just need the portals and press to start reporting what’s really happening, not time-lagged data.
all markets are manipulated.
a saying among the wall street people
Many rental properties are being swallowed up by government backed organisations to house your refugee problems over there , I'm not sure whether these figures are taken into consideration by the ONS but I know from from first hand experience they are signing 10 year leases at above market rates all over the country , this alone can only have an upward pressure on rentals
Charlie, I enjoy your videos but you need to shorten your intro – your intros can be 10% of the video length and you're the only YouTuber I know that does this.
Very helpful thank you 💚💚💚💚