ARLA: Reluctant tenants in buy to let market

25 January 2010

Written by Steve Olejnik

Buy to let landlords may be experiencing a trend of reluctant tenants, according to the Association of Residential Lettings.

Research from the organisation found that reluctant tenants have resulted from a rising demand for property alongside a decreasing surplus in rental property.

Some 41 per cent of landlords said there were more tenants than properties in the final quarter of 2009.

This was a large increase on the 24 per cent who said the same in the previous quarter.

Operations manager at the association Ian Potter explained that this was a positive move for the industry.

Homeowners who had to sell their home and found a shortage of property to buy were forced into the rental market, he said.

But there will be a need to provide good quality property to meet this new demand, Mr Potter continued.

Commenting on the findings, head of communications at the National Landlords Association Simon Gordon said: "Renting is no longer the ugly sister of the property market … Nowadays there are property savvy renters who prefer not having to worry about home repairs or concerns about making ends meet with potentially volatile interest rates."

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