The demand for property across the nation is continuing to outpace supply, with many believing that the cost of rent will increase throughout the year. In fact over half of UK letting agents believe rental costs with increase from April.
One reason being the new buy to let stamp duty surcharge that began on April 1st. The recent changes have forced many amateur landlords out of the buy to let market which will of course mean a decline in the supply of available properties coming onto the rental market.
With supply dropping, competition for the limited availability of properties intensifies which will almost certainly cause rents to increase as a result.
In February this year, demand for rental properties grew to an average 37 per letting agent branch, the highest since February 2015, as supply increased marginally. Some 52% of lettings agents reported an uplift in interest from buyers looking to invest in property before the stamp duty reforms came into effect, up from 47% in January.
Following on from the announcement of stamp duty reforms, the need for a private rented sector evolution was highlighted with the emergence of build to rent. Around &50 billion worth of investment in the sector will see build to rent account for 5% of the rental sector by 2020.
