Busy Letting Market

26th May 2010

John German, with offices in Ashbourne, Burton-on-Trent, Lichfield, Stafford and Uttoxeter, is reporting a busy lettings market.

However, Uttoxeter Lettings Manager, Emma Watkinson says that in the past six months or so typical buy-to-let two-bedroom properties are not attracting as much interest as the three-plus bedroom homes which were once more difficult to let.

“This is because younger people do not seem to be moving away from their parents as soon as they used to because of the expense,” said Emma. “Also, they are not moving as frequently as was once the case”.

“It is also noticeable that many people seem to be selling up their homes and going into rented properties because it is not so expensive. There are a lot of tenants who are hoping that their rented properties will be home for several years, rather than just six to 18 months, as was usually the case.”

John German is finding that the typical buy-to-let property, normally owned by an investment landlord, often is not as easy to let as those that were once owner-occupied. “This is because the latter have usually been nicely carpeted and decorated, where investment landlords in many cases do not pay enough attention to presentation,” said Emma.

“We advise landlords to look closely at the properties and ask themselves whether they would want to live there. If not, they would by well advised to present the property more attractively to secure a letting.”

Many potential landlords may be put off entering the lettings market due to the amount of legislation that governs it. The next deterrent will be an alteration to the law from 1^st October 2010, which will automatically change many non-housing act tenancies into Assured Tenancies overnight because the £25,000 threshold is being raised to £100,000. “However, this shouldn’t affect many, if any, tenancies around the Midlands, but many southern rental properties may be affected as rents are typically higher in the south of the country,” Emma added.

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