'Strong' rental market expected in 2011

Demand for good quality rental properties will be "strong" in 2011, Property Hawk has said.

A survey carried out by Upad found that 60 per cent of residential landlords said they were more confident in December than in the previous month - up from 54 per cent in November.

Chris Horne, editor of Property Hawk, said that the difficulties first-time buyers are facing in accessing the best mortgage rates will stimulate a demand for rental properties.

He added: "With the tightness in the mortgage market meaning that a lot of first-time buyers can't get mortgages, [and with some people] deferring buying because of the uncertainty in the economy, more people will elect to rent as opposed to buy."

Mr Horne added that some landlords are likely to look at increasing their property portfolios in 2011, but this is unlikely to greatly affect the rental market in the short-term.

According to figures from the Rent Index, average rents in the UK have dipped in the last month but have increased by 1.9 per cent during 2010.
 

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2010-12-23 11:50:05 © Moneyextra.com