With the price of everything from energy bills to the weekly shop rising sharply amid the cost of living crisis, saving up enough money to purchase a property seems like a far flung dream for many would-be buyers, especially those currently residing in private rented accommodation, as many landlords are forced to pass on the cost of higher mortgage rates.
Data released this week from the Hamptons revealed the average rent on a newly let home in Great Britain was up 9.1% in May compared to the corresponding month last year.
London saw the biggest annual hike, with rents rising by 13.1%, followed by Scotland (11.6%) and the North (9.2%).
Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, said “higher landlords costs” are one of the “biggest driving forces” behind why rents have increased so much in the past six to nine months.
“Rents are rising pretty much across the regions and for different property sizes which points towards this,” she added.
Some buy-to-let landlords are being hit with huge increases to their monthly mortgage repayments as buy-to-let mortgage rates soar.
Beveridge said rising rates are yet to lead to “a mass landlord exodus”. She said landlords have made up just 15% of sellers this year, the lowest proportion since 2015.
“In a way it’s a little hard to believe given how stretched some landlords will be when they come to re-mortgage this year, but we think that a large chunk of investors won’t actually be re-mortgaging at the moment because they’ll likely be on a longish fix.”
