20
Jan
Rent market changing as demand drops and arrears rise
The rental market across the UK could be set to change, after it
was revealed by the Association of Residential Letting
Agents (ARLA) that demand has started to slip.
In quarter three of 2011, ARLA said that 74 per cent of its members
were saying that there were more people on the lookout for
property to rent in London and other areas.
However, in quarter four, this dropped to just 55 per cent, which
could be attributed to the recently reported rise in demand for
buying property, as reported by Zoopla.
Tim Hyatt, president of ARLA, said: "The apparent drop in demand
for rental properties could be due to the traditionally quite
pre-Christmas period. At the same time, it could indicate a
reversal of the surge of new tenants who turned to the PRS when
they could not afford to buy."
As well as a drop in demand, ARLA also said that there are now more
people struggling with arrears as a result of financial
constraints.