Rents going up?

[Luke Masters]

Afternoon all,

Surely with all the draconian tax changes over the last 5 years regarding the property sector rents will be increasing this year, I wonder if anybody is already seeing it and what levels of increase they expect to see?

KPMG today said they expect significant rent rises, but didn't attach a figure to their argument.

"Dermot Callinan, head of private clients at KPMG in the UK, pointed out that the past four years have seen 14 tax changes targeted at residential property and in particular buy-to-let landlords, making the economics of such an investment less and less attractive."

 

[Nicholas Wallwork]

I've always said for dedicated investors who are passionate and driven there is massive opportunity in UK property. If anything the changes are to weed out the less dedicated and possibly "occasional" landlords who may have been forced to rent rather than choosing it as their main profession. For professional investors this is likely to mean MORE opportunity and possibly some great stock to snap up.

I agree rents are bound to go up. Supply vs demand is a key driver and with the deficit of homes increasing the problem isn't getting solved any time soon meaning rents are bound to go up.

With these recent tax changes, landlords will need to recoup some income and this yet again pushing upward pressure on rents.

We've seen rents increase by around 7-10% in the past 2-3 years in the south east where we mainly operate and I expect that to continue.

There is never a bad time to invest in uk property so keep working at it and you'll be successful in property in the uk or any country you choose...

 

[Michelle Barringer]

The BBC suggest that rents rises could outstrip the house price growth this year "the Rics survey suggests rents could rise by an average of 5% each year for the next five years. House prices, it predicts, could rise by 4.7% a year."

 

[Le Seb]

So I'm not sure about the UK as a whole, as this is probably region specific but I always wonder: how high can rents go?
I mean, in London it's already really crazy.. the average person doesn't have much money left once the rent is paid..