RICS: Residential Lettings Survey Q1 2010
Demand by tenant type.
A lack of supply is pushing rents higher, says the latest RICS Lettings Survey.
Download RICS Residential Lettings Survey Q1 2010
London market comments from the local property professionals:
James Gubbins MRICS
Dauntons in Pimlico, Westminster
- The market has been somewhat static up until recently: now improving in line with seasonal expectations.
Ben Temple MRICS
Temples (Clapham) Limited in Clapham, Wandsworth
- More landlords are now selling their properties. The picture is very mixed with some good rental levels being achieved but in some cases rents have continued to fall. Tenants are still negotiating and there seems to be enough choice for them to go elsewhere if they believe a rental is too high. We expect this to change but economic uncertainty may constrain rental growth.
Craig Newell BSc MRICS MCIArb
Craig Sheehan in West Kensington
- Acute shortage of rental property. Many landlords selling. Will have an effect on prices (upwards) in the near future.
Edward Reeve BSc
Edward Reeve in Pimlico
- Market very steady.
Nik Madan
John D Wood & Co. (R&A) Ltd in Kensington
- There is a clear shortage of stock on the lettings market in London and the South East. As a result, rents (and therefore yields) are rising. It is likely that this potential increase in returns will serve to attract investors back to the lettings market, particularly with a weak sterling making investment in the UK very attractive indeed to overseas investors.
Nicola Mukerrins
Cluttons in Bayswater
- Demand is certainly outstripping supply. We have many families looking with decent budgets but very little to show them. All local agents are experiencing the same shortage which in turn is resulting in agents overvaluing to get the instruction. Very frustrating!!
Jeremy Leaf FRICS
Jeremy Leaf & Co. in East Finchley
- Shortage of good quality 1 & 2 bedroom flats – especially if including outside space – as well as houses suitable for sharers both within 1/4 mile of station is pushing up rents. There are some signs too of aspiring first time buyers leaving the rental sector and trying to purchase though most are still being deterred by strict lending criteria and high deposits required by lenders.
Mark Wilson MRICS
Globe Apartments in London.
- Tenants continue to renew at a level we can never remember being so high. If owner occupiers are trapped so too is some of the private letting sector. Empty flats continue to let well and we are urgently in need of instructions.
