11/25/22, 11:17 PM Rising demand for rental homes pushes up prices

Rising demand for rental homes pushes up prices

The Guardian · 25 Nov 2022 · 38 · Julia Kollewe

Demand for rental homes across the UK has jumped by nearly a quarter in a
year, research has found, pil­ing more pres­sure on an over­sub­scribed mar­ket
and push­ing record private rents even higher.
The num­ber of people inquir­ing about homes to rent is up 23% on this time
last year, accord­ing to the Right­move web­site, driven in part by some would-
be buy­ers put­ting their plans on hold in the hope that mort­gage rates will drop
in the new year.
That has in turn fed a surge in how much land­lords charge, with sep­ar­ate
research from the Lon­don estate agent Fox­tons report­ing rents in the cap­ital in
the first nine months of this year had risen 22% year-on-year, with the aver­-
age rent now at a record £571 a week. The cost and avail­ab­il­ity of mort­gages
has begun to settle since Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget spread may­hem, with
indic­a­tions rates could drop fur­ther next year.
The aver­age two-year fix has fallen from a peak of 6.65% in late Octo­ber to
6.12% now. Mean­while the aver­age five-year fixed rate this week dropped
below 6% for the first time since the mini-budget, accord­ing to Money­facts,
and is now 5.92%. Right­move said rates would sta­bil­ise at a higher level than
in recent years.

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