The Lancaster rental market is broken. There is a severe shortage of rental properties available. Demand is out stripping supply and properties are letting faster than they are coming available. Only a couple of weeks ago I put out a genuine appeal for any landlords who are thinking of letting their property. In the last month alone we have had over 1200 applications for just 20 properties. That’s a lot of people looking to rent a home and sadly a lot of upset people who we had to say no to.
A recent survey by our data providers at Dataloft showed that over 60% of properties placed on the rental market are being snapped up by renters within a week of being listed and one in six letting within 3 days. It’s a very similar picture here at JDG. Only the more expensive Lancaster homes are taking a little longer, but even then, across the board, only 3% of properties are taking longer than 2 weeks.
Another problem is the number of Lancaster landlords that are considering selling their buy to let properties. With all the changes in the laws, buy to let mortgage rates going upwards and the forthcoming changes to the EPC regulations, several are asking, is now the time to sell? It is an interesting question.
One of things we urge landlords to consider is that Lancaster rental price growth is set to outstrip sales growth over the next 5 years. Compared to other parts of the country and even parts of the northwest, Lancaster property rentals are still considered affordable despite the fact they have been rising over the past 2 years. This is set to continue as the demand continues to the outstrip supply.
What we all have to consider though is the word AFFORDABILITY. Affordability is a two way thing. The property needs to be affordable to the investor and a return on on investment needs to be made. But it also needs to be affordable to the person living there. They need to be able to afford to pay their rent, pay their bills, pay food and still have some money for enjoyment. This is why at JDG, all our applications are checked to ensure they can afford the property they are applying for. We don’t want to put anyone into hardship, either the landlord or the tenant living there!
If you want to chat about how we do this and how we can help you with your Lancaster investment property please get in touch. At JDG we are here to help.
Thanks for reading
Josh
