The number of properties managed by letting agents has dropped to a 12-month low amid signs of a slowdown in the rental market.
Arla Propertymark’s October Private Rented Sector Report reveals letting agents had an average of 182 properties on their books during the month - down from 189 in September.
It is the lowest figure since October 2016, when agents managed an average of 180 rental properties.
There was also a drop-off in demand in October, with 69 prospective tenants registered per branch – down from 79 the previous month.
But there was good news for tenants, as the number experiencing rent increases fell to the lowest level since December 2016.
Just over a fifth (22 per cent) of agents witnessed landlords hiking rent costs - down from 27 per cent in September and a high of 35 per cent in August.
Meanwhile, the number of tenants successfully negotiating rent reductions increased marginally from 2.4 per cent in September to 2.5 per cent.
The data, from an online survey of 264 ARLA member branches between 31 October and 8 November, add to evidence that the rental market is slowing following a wave of tax and regulatory changes in 2016 and 2017.
Savills recently claimed buy-to-let landlords were selling up or paying down their mortgage debt based on UK Finance figures showing the number of outstanding buy-to-let mortgages was being outpaced by new mortgages being granted.
But David Cox, Arla Propertymark chief executive, pointed out that the slowdown could be due to seasonal factors.
He said: “A large number of tenancies are agreed over the summer, meaning both supply and demand are usually lower in the autumn.
“However, a lot are also agreed in the New Year and if stock remains low, competition for properties among prospective tenants will increase, which will in turn push rents up, so we must see an increase in supply over the next two months.”
Alex Reynolds, IFA at London-based Advies Private Clients, agreed the rental market was seasonal but suggested the additional pressures on landlords could be playing a role.
He said: “There is pressure on landlords to increase rents with higher taxation in play. Potentially landlords are asking for too high rents, therefore there are less bookings being made.
“There might be more landlords doing self-management and not doing bookings through agents, perhaps using online portals like Airbnb, therefore the figures are not representative of the full market.
“There are more lenders becoming happy to look at Airbnb, and landlords can make more money than they would on a normal rental.”
simon.allin@ft.com
