Landlords want to keep abreast of developments in the increasingly fast moving world of the private rental sector – so here are some titbits of the latest news.
Demand for rental properties boosted by political and economic uncertainty
Average rents in the UK have risen by some 2.5% during the past 12 months, largely as the result of the current climate of economic and political uncertainty, says an article in Landlord Today on the 12th of February.
With so much in an apparent state of flux, the private rental sector appears to offer a safer haven of certainty for many households, says the report, which links rising rents to soaring demand for rental property.
The economic and political uncertainties surrounding Brexit have discouraged many homeowners and potential owners from buying or moving house, with the result that prices have taken a tumble – with a corresponding increase in the numbers looking to rent.
Whilst the national average rental increase stands at 2.5%, rents in London have outstripped that figure to rise by 3.7% in the past year.
How long does it really take to sell a property?
Have you ever wondered how long it might take to sell your home? A recent survey by online estate agents Zoopla on the 7th of February reveals that most people reckon it is going to take two months.
In fact, the hard data shows that the average length of time to sell a property is just 50 days.
There are quite wide regional variations, of course, with homeowners in Wales possibly the most pessimistic, in believing it’s going to take two months or more to sell their property. Those in the West Midlands have a misplaced optimism, however, in believing that it is going to take less than a month. In London, estimates vary across the whole range.
Although the great majority of homeowners are confident they know the current market value of their home, 40% of them are basing that estimate on the price at which similar properties in their area have fetched.
The most and least expensive roads in the UK
If your address is in Belgravia in London, it probably comes as no surprise that you live in the most expensive street in the UK, where the average home costs an eye-watering £33 million, announced the Mirror newspaper on the 30th of January.
Although it stands head and shoulders above some other plush addresses, Belgravia is not alone in commanding the dizzy heights of expensive housing – the Mirror lists ten other London addresses where the average price of a home tops £6 million.
At the other end of the scale, is Harrowgate Lane, Stockton-on-Tees, where buying a home is likely to set you back a considerably more modest £16,415. The Mirror lists ten other places in the northeast of England where the average house price is currently less than £22,000.
To-Let boards banned in parts of Lincoln
How do you advertise the fact that you have property to let? Probably the most conventional, eye-catching and informative method has been to erect a sign to that effect outside the home in question.
If your let property is in certain streets of Lincoln, however, you are likely to be banned for putting up any kind of “To Let” notice, with effect from April, warned the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) on the 7th of February.
The Secretary of State has given approval for the council ban, which sees the City of Lincoln taking a leaf out of the book of other local authorities prohibiting the display of such signs – towns and cities such as Leicester, Newcastle and Brighton & Hove.
