Tenants market 'changed by rising job losses'

17/06/2009

The rental market has been changed by unemployment trends, Smartlandlord.co.uk revealed in a report yesterday.

According to the tenant specialist, the number of students rose from 1.1 per cent of new renters to 5.8 per cent over the past year.

This was due to rising job losses leading to more people either staying in education or returning to study, Smartlandlord.co.uk said.

The site also urged landlords to "exercise caution" when taking on new tenants, due to rising unemployment.

Around 7.8 per cent of new tenants taken on last month were jobless - and another 7.7 per cent were described as "self-employed".

These groups could cause landlords more difficulty in securing rental payments, due to their financial insecurity.

Kevin Still, EuroDebt director, commented: "We have identified the rental market as a sector that requires greater support for both landlords and tenants, especially where the tenants are suffering financial difficulty. It is often the case that they will pay their unsecured creditors, for example store cards, credit cards and personal loans, ahead of priority payments like rent and council tax.

"EuroDebt work with residential letting agents to provide a more balanced and fair approach that tries to avoid eviction in the first instance. We do this by visiting the tenant and completing a full fact find and establishing a realistic repayment programme for any rent arrears and ensuring that future rental payments are prioritised."

Elsewhere in the report, the average monthly rent for May was found to be £696 - roughly in line with the previous month's results.

As before, the highest rents in the country were found to be in London, which had a £1,131 average rent.

Meanwhile, the cheapest region in which to rent was the north, with a typical monthly cost of £494.

Tags; Job loss, Credit Card Lifestyle, Recent Graduate Debt,

Regional Debt Advice; Debt Help London,

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