Lettings Market sees a strong start to June
The first two weeks in June have seen the lettings market enjoying huge gains for both completed and new lettings applications, one platform reveals.
According to Goodlord, these applications are now higher than June 2019's levels and underline a strong bounce back for the rental sector.
Letting agents say they are responding to several months of pent-up tenant demand because of Covid-19 lockdown.
Demand for rental homes has steadily grown
And since restrictions on moving home were lifted on 13 May, the demand for rental homes has steadily grown.
The figures reveal that the busiest day was 2 June for new applications which were 112% of the volume seen on the same day last year.
The busiest day in the first two weeks was 10 June with activity reaching 124% of activity on 10 June 2019.
The firm's chief executive, Tom Mundy, said: "It has been a very busy few weeks for landlords, letting agents and tenants.
"They have risen to the challenges admirably with a surge in demand coupled with a new way of doing business and working."
He added: "We are now starting to see much needed consistency and stability in the market."
The growing strength of the buy to let sector has seen Foundation Home Loans restarting their buy to let product range this week for first-time landlords.
The firm's marketing director, Jeff Knight, said: "Since returning to new lending, we have seen growing interest from landlords and advisers as they seek to add to or refinance their portfolios."
And Barclays has also unveiled a range of new buy to let portfolio financial products which are aimed at landlords with more than four buy to let properties.
Buy to let offers a stable investment opportunity
Meanwhile, it has been revealed that when compared to the commercial rental sector, buy to let offers a more solid investment opportunity.
The findings from Sourced Capital highlight that landlords can enjoy a typical yield of 5%.
The lending platform examined what the average annual return across commercial and buy to let markets would be for a £500,000 investment.
The best area to invest in buy to let
They found that the best area to invest in buy to let was in the North East with a yield of 5.5%.
Researchers also found that landlords with commercial property would expect to see a net return, on average, of 2.2%.
The firm's managing director, Stephen Moss, said: "In the long term, residential bricks and mortar makes for the most consistent investment option on the whole regardless of geography.
