Average asking rent remains steady in May

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by Kay Murchie

According to FindaProperty.com’s rental index for May, average asking rent in the UK remained unchanged at £819 a month in May from the previous month. However, this figure is 5.5% lower than May 2008.

FindaProperty.com has also reported that a decline in house supply in the rental market was experienced for the third month in a row, while flats continued to suffer from rising supply and falling rents.

According to the website, the rising supply of flats meant they were becoming cheaper to let than compared to houses.

Over the last year, tenants have been able to negotiate lower rents due to the over supply of properties and this has been primarily due to the rise of “accidental landlords” (those who have had no choice but to let their property as they have been unable to sell them during the housing market downturn).

However, this is expected to change as FindaProperty.com reported that the rate at which more properties had come onto the rental market had slowed compared with this time last year.

Their research corresponds with Leaders, the letting agency, who earlier this week reported a shift is being seen in the lettings market, whereby one that was previously more favourable to tenants over the last few months, is now becoming more favourable to landlords.

The agency suggests that as the sales market improves, they expect to see less negotiation on rents from tenants as supply and demand even out.