A flood of rental properties is coming onto the market, providing tenants with a much wider choice of homes, according to new data.
Ahead of the introduction of the 3% Stamp Duty surcharge on 1st April, buy-to-let landlords and second homebuyers rushed to complete on property purchases to avoid the higher tax rate. Now, these landlords are starting to rent out their new investments.
Property portal Rightmove reports an 11.5% increase in rental properties being listed in April.
Flood of Rental Properties Coming Onto the Market
Property Partner has analysed the figures, finding that the supply of homes went up in 82% of UK towns and cities. Worcester experienced the greatest growth in new rental property listings, at almost 50%.
Even in the capital, where house prices are sky-high, the number of rental properties rose last month.
The CEO of Property Partner, Dan Gandesha, comments: “The rental market experienced a much-needed boost in April. Unfortunately, this was created by investor frenzy to beat the Stamp Duty hike, and supply is unlikely to continue on an upward trajectory.”
Despite the increase in housing supply, Gandesha believes that choice for tenants could become more limited in the next few months, as traditional landlords refuse to pay the 3% surcharge and the forthcoming reduction in mortgage interest tax relief looms.
“There is still strong tenant demand, but the Government has changed the traditional buy-to-let landscape, and this will have ramifications for the rental market longer term,” adds Gandesha. “That demand will increasingly have to be met by professional landlords like Property Partner, offering tenants a better product and investors a better deal.”
Property Partner has found the top 15 towns and cities where rental supply has risen:
| Position | Town/City | Region | Increase in rental property supply |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Worcester | West Midlands | 48.9% |
| 2 | Chelmsford | East of England | 38% |
| 3 | Stevenage | South East | 36.4% |
| 4 | Southport | North West | 34.4% |
| 5 | Telford | West Midlands | 32.3% |
| 6 | Cheltenham | South West | 30.3% |
| 7 | Watford | East of England | 29.4% |
| 8 | Bath | South West | 29.3% |
| 9 | Newport | Wales | 27% |
| 10 | Woking | South East | 26.8% |
| 11 | Gloucester | South West | 26.4% |
| 12 | Milton Keynes | South East | 24.7% |
| 13 | Oxford | South East | 24.5% |
| 14 | Oldham | North West | 23.3% |
| 15 | St Helens | North West | 22.5% |
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