The number of new landlord instructions is at the lowest level since records started in 1998 and looks set to keep falling, suggests the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
Letting agents belonging to RICS are concerned more landlords will quit as tax and legal changes start to bite.
The main worry is the forthcoming scrapping of no-fault evictions, which agents expect to herald a mass exodus from the market.
As a result of rising demand and a lack of homes to rent, RICS expects rents to rise by 2% by April next year and 3% a year until April 2024, explained RICS policy manager Tamara Hooper.
“To encourage an efficient and balanced private rented sector, better standards and regulation need to be embedded into the industry,” she said
“RICS does not believe that the announcement’s made by Government around Section 21 will help bring about the changes within the industry that the Government hopes. While an efficiently functioning sector should give security to tenants that they can’t be evicted on a whim, it should also allow for landlords to easily evict troublesome tenants.”
Landlords boosted by £80,000 house sale profits
Landlords selling up rented property in England and Wales collected an average £79,770 before tax.
Property consultants Hamptons International revealed 85%of landlords sold at a profit,but investors in the North East had the poorest returns.
The biggest profits were in London – where 96% of landlords sold at a profit and many enjoyed gains of triple the national average at £248,129.
In the North East, sellers had a 44% chance of making a loss and made the lowest pre-tax profits of an average £11,810.
Rents rise to outsmart fee ban
Rents are rising as landlords bid to beat the tenant fee ban that starts on June 1.
Tenants have seen rents increase by 3.3% in recent months as landlords aim to recoup extra costs that are expected with the ban, says buy to let referencing firm Homelet, which publishes a monthly rent report.
UK rents now average £936 a month
The firm’s chief executive Martin Totty said: ““Whilst the aim of the Tenant Fees Act is to reduce costs that tenants face, landlords still need to cover costs incurred when setting up a tenancy. The expectation is that costs will be passed back to tenants through higher rents, particularly for new tenancies.”
