According to the data, during April, letting agents reported a three year high for the volume of landlords selling their buy-to-let properties, with the number of landlords leaving the market rising from 4 per branch in March to 5.
During March, the figure rose for the first time in almost a year, to 4 landlords per branch, after reaming at 3 per branch since the previous April.
ARLA Propertymark reported that the number of prospective tenants registered per member branch continued to rise, increasing by 9% in April. In March, agents had 66 tenants on their books on average, compared to 72 in April. This is the strongest demand seen since September, when there were 79 registered per branch.
David Cox, ARLA Propertymark, chief executive, said: “The barrage of legislative changes landlords have faced over the past few years, combined with political uncertainty has meant the BTL market is becoming increasingly unattractive to investors.
Landlords are either hiking rents for tenants or choosing to exit the market altogether to avoid facing the increased costs incurred.
This in turn is hitting renters most, at a time when a huge number of people rely on the rented sector, and leaves us with the question of where will these people find alternative homes?
As demand for private rented homes massively continues to outstrip supply, the government can no longer divert its attention from the broken housing market. The recent news that the government is regulating the industry is a step in the right direction, but ultimately we just need more homes.”
