Davis comments: ?Over recent months, the city has seen a vast increase in the number of accidental landlords, due to the fact that they have been unable to sell their property. And the rules of supply and demand apply, meaning that property rental prices have levelled off. Overall I do not believe they are falling ? there remains plenty of potential for many to make long-term gains.
?What this new breed of landlord needs to remember is that, today, tenants in London are looking for one- and two-bedroom properties, primarily in zones two and three. It is these types of property that are still commanding healthy rents.?
Davis believes that there is minimal likelihood of a return to 100 percent mortgages in the next five years. He adds: ?It is this level of gearing that got the UK economy into recession in the first place.
?The affordability gap for becoming a homeowner has grown yet further. And, the situation is reinforced by the fact that there are a large number of social factors preventing tenants from becoming homeowners. There is now also real uncertainty in the job market, leading to rentals having become the preferred option.?
Davis considers that the UK (primarily London) is already seeing a shift towards a more European model of renting. As recently published in the English Housing 2007-8 report, 32% of people under 30 were buying with a mortgage against 45% who were renting. In 2001, those figures were 40% who purchased with a mortgage and who 33% rented.
Davis comments: ?For Landlords wishing to increase portfolio, they should note that yields are much higher today than they were 12 months ago.
?Interest rates are at an all time low, which presents a real opportunity for residential property investors. They just need to get their proposition right, and to target the market effectively. However, it is important to remember that property is a long-term investment game ? don't go into it expecting to get rich quick.?
-Ends-
Notes to editors
upad (www.upad.co.uk) is a new online service that connects renters to landlords to help them find their ideal property quickly and easily. Launched in October 2008 under the banner 'reinventing renting', the company's innovative approach is aimed at filling a gap in the property rental market.
upad's website deploys bespoke state-of-the-art technology to overcome issues identified by renters such as out-of-date information and poor online experiences. In particular upad enables online searches that are interactive and intuitive to produce relevant properties.
With over 82,000 rental properties available in London, upad will continue to add to this portfolio in order to offer the largest choice of homes to rent in the capital. The service will be rolled out across other major UK cities in the next few months.
Free to renters, upad costs landlords ?59 per listing.
For further information and interviews, please contact: Katrina Suppiah/Kate Alexander, Publicit? Tel: + 44 (0)20 8543 6582/+44 (0)20 8543 8481/+44 (0)7809 028711 Email: k.suppiah@publicite.co.uk/k.alexander@publicite.co.uk
Looking for a new rental property can be a daunting task; chances are good that if you are searching for a property online you may be looking to move to a new area of the country for work or family reasons. Even if you are not moving to a new area but are looking to move to another property in the same region it can still be a big task.
What methods are there to help with the search?
There are still the more traditional methods open to rental house hunters which will include the local papers (if you are in the area to receive one) or visiting the letting agents offices directly. These are still valuable methods but can be time consuming or impossible depending on your situation. To visit the local letting agents may take a whole day or even worse a whole weekend, depending on where you are living and where you are moving too, plus there are no guarantees that you will find what you are looking for. If you set out a weekend to look for a property it could be likely that a knee jerk reaction could happen if you become desperate to find a property during the time you are there.
One of the most important things to remember is that you need to take your time, don't leave your hunt to the last minute, this could result in you having to accept a property that is not ideal for your requirements. It is important to remember the more time you leave for your search the more selective you can be when choosing your rental property.
How do the Property Portals/Directories Help Me
In days gone by the portal sites and directory sites that advertised property were often found to be frustrating to use, you may have found the house or flat that you would like to take a look at, make contact with the agents only for them to announce that the property had already gone and the site was out dated. The portals have now become much more sophisticated and are as up to date as the agents own websites. Taking feeds automatically from the agents own databases on a daily basis often the property found is current, OK, so you may be unlucky and have selected a property that had already gone that day, however more often than not this wont be the case.
The Available Information
The information on these sites is good and provide full property details, location maps, landlord requirements (ie/ no smoking, dss, pets) and even have the facility to download the property details so you can review your top selections in your own time offline. The rental market has always been a step behind the sales market when it comes to particulars and advertising documents, this now is not the case and you will find that rental property online is documented as well as sales. The good sites will also provide agent profile pages which outline their services and also give you a link through to their company website so you can check for further information.
Are Rentals Still Second Behind Sales
A lot of sites are focused on sales and estate agents and have the rentals as a side issue. The rentals market is an entirely different market and is aimed towards a different sector of people, it is important that the marketing online and offline is aimed towards the correct demographic group. There are specialist sites which are aimed purely towards the rental market of which it would make sense to use these services first. As always there are some better sites to use than others and it makes sense to research each one and check as many properties as you can (online) first.
Reviewing the Information be Prepared
As stated in the earlier part of this article remember to take your time in searching for property, decide on what is important for you. Don't go into this blind; be prepared as you would if you were buying a house, a bad decision at the beginning of the process could mean you spend 6 months (usual minimum tenancy agreement length) in a house/flat or an area that you would rather not be in.
Rentright is a dedicated rental property portal site and there are a number of different articles which can assist you in making the right decision about your next rental property, along with a whole host of other interesting information.
Both Upad & Rentright are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Upad has sinced written about articles on various topics from Real Estate. . Upad's top article generates over 590 views. to your Favourites.
Rentright has sinced written about articles on various topics from Real Estate. Chris Courtis is the co-founder of the rentright property rental portal which is an advertising mechanism for rental property across the internet. To find property to rent go to. Rentright's top article generates over 1600 views. to your Favourites.