Number of landlords hiking rents reaches 10-month high in June | City A.M.

Renters, look away now, as it’s been revealed that the number of tenants who experienced a rent hike reached a ten-month high in June.

Arla Propertymark said the number of tenants who reported a rent rise went up by 35 per cent in June, from 28 per cent in May.

That’s the largest rate since August 2017, when 35 per cent of landlords decided to charge their tenants more.

It’s more than double the rate for the same time last year, when the rate was 13 per cent.

In its June Private Rented Sector report it also said the number of properties letting agents managed rose to an average of 191, the highest figure recorded for thsi year.

David Cox, ARLA Propertymark Chief Executive, said:

It’s positive to see the number of properties available to rent slowly rising but it still isn’t anywhere near enough to slow down the pace of rent rises, which are continuing to climb.

Over the last few years, we’ve seen taxes to both purchase and let a rental property increase. This combination – coupled with continued regulatory change – has unsurprisingly started pushing landlords out of the market. We predicted back at the end of last year that renters would be in for a rough ride in 2018, and we warned Government about the impact on the market. Our fears are now being realised and renters are suffering as a result.”