Rental boom ahead of Olympics
BRITAIN’S rental market is booming, with the number of properties available to lease rising 10 per cent on last year, according to figures out yesterday.
Research by data group Experian shows that an additional 58,000 properties were being marketed to rent in 2011 compared to the same period in 2010.
By contrast the number of properties for sale dropped by approximately 12,000 in 2011.
The difference between the resale and rental markets is narrowing, with 769,077 properties taken to market against 692,766 that were let out.
London continues to dominate the rental market with 20 per cent of lets being in the capital compared to just 10 per cent of resales.
“This insight shows that homeowners may be using renting as a back-up plan if they are unable to sell or alternatively some may still consider property a long-term investment,” said Jonathan Westley, a managing director at Experian.
Separate research by the website Easy Roommate show that the number of properties being offered as short-term lets in London’s Olympic boroughs has risen 16 per cent higher than the capital average during the last quarter.