Rocketing rents in London are not replicated in other parts of the UK

London's rocketing rental market should be treated separately to the rest of the UK and the government should recognise this when formulating policy, it is claimed.

According to lettings agents Belvoir, which has offices across the country, reports of massive rental increases are over exaggerated when it comes to most locations.

It latest rental index covering the first three months of the year shows that the market has remained steady in most regions and some have not yet recovered to 2008 levels.

‘Although rents in Yorkshire are now recovering to pre-recession levels, only rents in the South East, South West, West Midlands and London are exceeding the heights achieved in 2008 and it is the London market that has seen the biggest increase,’ said Dorian Gonsalves, Belvoir's director of Commercial and Franchising.

‘In recent months there have been reports of some private London landlords doubling rents, but Belvoir's analysis of advertised rents in regions across the rest of the UK reveal that the majority of landlords have seen no rental increases in recent years,’ said.

He pointed out that the index shows that a total of 14 counties, which include Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Dorset have yet to recover to 2008 levels.

‘Seeking to introduce blanket rental increase caps across the entire UK, combined with other proposed government policies such as the banning of tenancy fees, and introducing statutory long term tenancy agreements is likely to have a huge negative impact on the majority of landlords, who may well be forced to sell up,’ he explained.

‘This will then further reduce the stock of good quality rental properties available to tenants in less wealthy parts of the country where the lettings market is of such vital importance. It will also leave tenants vulnerable to those rogue landlords that the government seeks to protect them against,’ he added.

He called for the government to work with reputable agents such as Belvoir, as well as other industry bodies, to help develop policies that will address the massive divide between rents achieved in London and the South East, whilst reducing the negative impact of these policies on other less affluent parts of the country.

Meanwhile, the Labour Party’s proposal to introduce an annual indexation of rents will leave more tenants out of pocket and only exacerbate high rents in the UK, as it will encourage a culture of regular rental increases, according to the National Landlords Association (NLA).
                           
The association points out that its latest research reveals that many landlords are choosing not to raise their rents despite local market rates increasing over the past year. Some 45% of landlords say that rents have risen in their local area over the past 12 months, yet just a third have raised rents during that period. Fewer still, 28%, say they plan to raise rents over the coming months.

Furthermore, the findings show that the majority of landlords raise rents between tenancies rather than on existing tenants. Of those landlords that increased their rents in the past year, 60% did so when letting to new tenants, rather than on existing tenancies, and 29% said they raise their rents regularly or as part of a scheduled annual increase.

'Our findings show that the majority of landlords don’t plan to raise rents and don’t simply just increase rents as a matter of course. Our primary concern is that a system of rent indexations, as proposed by Labour, will only serve to encourage a culture of regular rental increases by providing the basis to legitimately escalate rents on a regular and sustainable basis,' said Carolyn Uphill, chairman of the NLA.

'Labour has targeted the UK’s nine million or so renters as they recognise that they will play a major part in deciding outcome of next year’s general election. However, it’s painfully evident that they’ve given no thought to the potential impact of their proposals and tenants should be aware that, sadly, this particular aspect will only leave them worse off,' she added.