Number of houses for rent continues to rise

The number of houses for rent has continued to rise according to new figures from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).

The Rics Lettings Survey, which was published today (November 18th), shows that rents dropped across the residential lettings sector during the third quarter of 2008 as would-be sellers flooded the market with properties that couldn't be sold.

Commenting on the figures, Rics spokesperson James Scott-Lee said that the lettings market in the UK had witnessed a boom in 2008 as sales in the housing market continued to slow.

"The market place has become more and more competitive as many vendors have been forced to become amateur landlords, creating an inevitable downward pressure on rents where supply has matched demand," he said.

The findings also revealed that half of chartered surveyors reported a rise in the number of new instructions to let houses and flats, with more frustrated sellers putting their home on the lettings market because they have been unable to agree a sale.

Rics announced last month that they expected property sales to improve over the next three months.

UK Property News posted on 18/11/2008 14:46:21