Rental Demand on the Increase

Landlords’ are seeing increased demand for their properties, and this is leading to higher fees.

Some 39% of landlords have seen rising tenant demand in the past three months, the highest proportion in five years.

The research, which comes from mortgage lender Paragon Bank, indicated that the conditions caused by the end of the pandemic means landlords haven’t been short of options when choosing tenants.

Some 18.2% of landlords felt tenant demand has increased ‘significantly’, while a further 20.3% registered slight increases.

Paragon Bank director of mortgage sales said: “It’s great to see that tenant demand reported by landlords to hit the highest level since 2016.

“Quarter two of 2020 was a time of real uncertainty and this was reflected in the record low levels of demand that landlords saw. Demand bounced back the following quarter and has been rising ever since.

“This highlights resilience of the private rented sector and suggests that a growing number of people have turned to it at a time when the stability of a good quality home is ever important.”

The recovery in tenant demand differs regionally.

With the exception of central London, all regions have seen a year-on-year increase in landlords reporting a ‘significant increase’.