Rent while making life choices

Many potential first-time buyers are continuing to rent property because they are yet to decide what to do with their lives, new research shows.

Flexibility and affordability are key factors for potential first-time buyers when it comes to deciding between buying or renting, according to a survey by the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA).

Letting agents report that nearly half of all tenants yet to get onto the property ladder enjoy the flexibility that renting brings.

Over a third see renting as a stopgap while they wait to make decisions over their lifestyle and career.

ARLA, which carried out the survey among its members during August, also reports that 60 per cent of tenants find renting the affordable alternative to buying a property.

And one in ten rents because they can afford more space in a better location than if they were looking to buy.

Few tenants - less than five per cent - rent property because it is their preferred option, but ten per cent of tenants enjoy not having to take responsibility for maintenance of the property.

"Affordability, flexibility and who takes responsibility are major issues catered for by the private rented sector," said ARLA chief executive Adrian Turner.

Other reasons for renting cited by letting agents include tenants who are waiting for house prices to fall, are unsure about the hosing market, nervous about interest rates or simply do not have a large enough deposit to buy a property.

The survey also reveals that tenants in the north-west and south-east are those most likely to rent for reasons of affordability.

In central London on the other hand, letting agents believe affordability is an issue for little over half of their tenants.