19th
Feb 2021
According to a leading market monitor results although voids are on the increase it shows that the private rented sector is not suffering overall in spite of the pandemic that started around a year ago.
The author of the monitor Tom Mundy of a PropTech firm is cautionary but adamant that there is some relief for the sector, he says: “Despite the lockdown, the pace of new lets remains encouraging and the rise in voids looks to be directly linked to a small amount of lockdown-induced friction” he says.
“Rents are holding up well and the latest figures on tenant salaries are also encouraging, although the end of the furlough scheme and its potential impact is still several months away, and something that both letting agents and landlords should bear in mind.
“As we inch towards the one-year anniversary of the initial pandemic-induced turmoil, the lettings markets and all its stakeholders should be heartened by how resilient the current picture continues to be.”
The latest rental index finds that for rental properties across England in December the average void period was 21 days which rose to 24 days by the end of January; Christmas holidays and lockdown restrictions accounted for this.
The areas most affected were North East where voids shot up from 21 to 29 days. The East Midlands experienced an increase from 20 to 26 days; Greater London, the South East and North West had increases of no more than four days.
Rents stayed roughly the same across England during this period.
The average rental cost for rented properties in England only increased from £866.64 to £875.46 due to low rental increases in the East Midlands, Greater London, the North East, North West and South East.
However, the North East recorded the highest monthly rental cost rise from £685.50 to £732.21 as the region recovered from December’s weaker rent prices. Rents remained the same in the West Midlands but the South West saw average monthly rents falling by 2%.
The index also studied tenants’ wages as a gauge for the private rental sector.
In December there was a disturbing dip in average wages for renters, however January is looking far more positive.
The average annual salary of an English tenant rose by 6% from £24,930 to £25,175 which was roughly the same as July - October 2020.
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