UK rents set to rise

Residential landlords are set to benefit from improved rents as more "accidental landlords" take advantage of house prices and leave the lettings market, it has been suggested.

The number of rental properties on the market has decreased for the first time since January 2008, according to the latest quarterly survey by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

As a result surveyor optimism in the rental market has increased for the first time since July last year, with 22 per cent more saying they expect rents to rise in the next three months.

Jeremy Leaf, a spokesperson for RICS, said: "It seems the current upward trend in the housing market is having a more significant effect on the lettings market, with many of the accidental landlords returning to the sales market to take advantage of the recent price increases.

"As a result the recent oversupply is reversing, with new instructions at the lowest levels we have seen. This of course is impacting on prices and tenants no longer have as strong a bargaining power as they did."

An LSL Property Services report, published at the end of October, showed that the average monthly rent in the UK now stood at £669.

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