Over half (54%) of letting agents are pessimistic about the industry and a huge 75% of landlords, research shows
The sentiment across the private rented sector (PRS) is worse than it’s ever been, according to a research.
The research comes from Goodlord and Vouch’s initial insights from the latest State of the Lettings Industry Report.
It found that over half (54%) of letting agents are pessimistic about the industry and a huge 75% of landlords.
Meanwhile, the number of agents who believe Section 21 would have a negative impact on the sector has increased from 56% last year to 70% this year.
So-called ‘no fault’ evictions are set for an immediate ban when the Renter’s Rights Bill passes, which is likely to happen early next year.
Goodlord and Vouch suggest that this year’s survey is set to reveal a lack of widespread support among tenants for mandating periodic tenancies.
Of those surveyed, 58.5% of tenants indicate they would prefer a fixed-term, renewable tenancy agreement, and 30% favour a rolling, open-ended agreement.
Only 15% of tenants report feeling “trapped” by a fixed-term tenancy, indicating the perceived benefits of mandatory periodic tenancies may not align with tenants’ preferences.
The full report will be published on 3 October.
Goodlord CEO William Reeve says: This year’s State of the Lettings Industry report comes at an absolutely critical time. There is a new Government, a major piece of rental sector reform is soon to hit the statute books, and we are experiencing the most acute housing crisis in a generation.
As the initial data shows, this combination of factors is engendering wide-ranging pessimism and concern across the industry, and the imbalance between supply and demand looks set to get worse, not better, he said.
