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Landlords look to boost investment in rented homes

Wednesday, 16 November 2011 12:16 PM

Letting agents say increased demand for rented homes is sparking renewed investment in the private rented sector from landlords in some part of the UK.

Almost a quarter of the landlords questioned by the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) for its latest survey said they had expanded their portfolio in the last year. The most popular regions for investment were the North West, Midlands and Central London and least popular was the Rest of London.

ARLA said market conditions were generating the interest. Three-quarters of ARLA members reported that demand for rental property exceeded supply in its third quarter survey.
It added that 60 per cent said achievable rent levels have risen in the last six months and that the private rented sector has out-performed other forms of investment for the last two years.

And the average period for which a property is empty between lets has fallen from an average of four weeks per year two year ago to 2.7 weeks now.

Ian Potter, operations manager at ARLA, said: “With rental returns currently at 5 per cent, anyone thinking about investing a property to rent could be well placed to consider their options in the coming months."

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