UK property portal Find a Property.com found that UK rents did not fall in May. Having fallen every month since last August, in May the average rent remained unchanged from April at £819pcm.
This is still 5.5% lower than last May, when the average rent was £867 per month. None the less this is great news for landlords up and down the country.
There is currently increased activity from buyers in the UK housing market, and recent indices have found that prices are stabilising. The reason for house prices stabilising is a shortage of supply, as many people have chosen to rent their properties rather than sell. With increased supply on the rental market, the fact that rents are stabilising is a very pleasant surprise.
Because the average rent has stabilised in spite of the fact that supply is not decreasing on the rental market, would seem to suggest that this is a permanent stabilisation; that rents have fallen far enough.
The opposite is true of house prices, with most analysts fearing the current stabilisation is a dead cat bounce, which will be followed by more sharp declines, especially if supply increases.
A supply increase on the sales side, which is entirely likely with such positive news, would be a double whammy of good news for landlords: it would shorten rental supply putting upward pressure on rents, and any subsequent house price falls would increase rental yields.
Zungalow.com is a landlords dream: they can have their properties on the site and being viewed at all times, and simply mark them "for rent" when they are vacant. This is an option because the fees are so low: for just £29 per year landlords can advertise up to 3 properties, and for £149 per year they can advertise up to 20.