UK Lettings on The Increase

There is no doubt at all that private lettings in the United Kingdom has grown considerably. In the mid-90s only 7 percent of houses were in the private rented sector, and in 2001 it went up 10.76 percent. That is a considerable increase in just under five years. Now fast forward to 2012, and though we haven’t had the official consensus yet it is estimated to be just over 16% which is an astounding figure when you look back to the mid-90s.

 

image courtesy of: monkeybanjo

Conservative estimates actually put the rate of private rentals at around 20 to 25% over the next five years as less and less people are able to afford a mortgage or an outright payment. These are big figures, so why has that happened?

Well to be fair it seems to be a big multitude of reasons, but mainly;

The large amount of council houses were sold off in the 80s which means if you didn’t buy your house you would go and rent one from the council but if the council had sold off all their houses you wouldn’t able to buy one.  Those that were lucky to buy their council houses obviously got a bargain but those days are long gone and far behind us.

We used to have great buy to let mortgages in United Kingdom, so we had new buy to let properties being bought by new landlords. So a combination of all those together with a changing attitude towards renting has meant that renting has really gone through the roof. But one of the biggest downsides to this though is because of the boom, a lot of letting agents have set up business at the same time so who do you choose?

You should really try to choose a letting agent which will guide you through the entire process, will stay with you, and perhaps most importantly, be able to give you an honest opinion. The best letting agents come from recommendations from friends if possible, otherwise try to meet them and have a chat with them first.

If you’re unable to get a personal recommendation from a friend when you’re only viable alternative is to look online for information. As well as Google there are also some very good property review websites, you should be able to find you the right tenant for your property or at least be able to advise to competently whatever your plans may be.