Private Residential Rental Prices Up Across the UK

This article by the Property Wire on September 26th, 2013 shows that according to the new index from the Office of National Statistics private residential rental prices paid by tenants in the UK rose by 1.2% in the 12 months to August 2013.


Excluding London, were rents are higher than the rest of the country, rental prices were up by 0.8% during the same period, the data also shows.

There were also regional variations with rental prices up by 1.3% in Scotland and Wales and by 1.1% in England. But within England rental prices were up 1.9% in London and 1.1% in the South East of England.

The Index of Private Housing Rental Prices (IPHRP) is a new experimental index that measures the change in price of renting residential property from private landlords and calculates changes in the prices paid by tenants for renting private housing instead of calculating changes in the latest agreed rental prices.

The index examines how much tenants in privately rented accommodation pay in a month compared to the same month in the previous year. ‘This is a new official statistic undergoing evaluation and therefore it is recommended that caution is exercised when drawing conclusions from the published data as the index is likely to be further developed,’ said an ONS spokesman.

The index report says that the large weight that London has in the overall data reflects its high average rental prices and its large volume of private rented property.

All the regions in the UK have experienced rises in their private rental prices since 2011 and since January 2011 England rental prices have increased more than those of Scotland and Wales.

Until April 2013, the annual rate of change in the IPHRP had been higher in England than in Scotland or Wales. However, the annual rate of change has been increasing in Wales and Scotland since late 2012 and is, in August 2013, higher in these countries than in England.

The IPHRP series for England starts in 2005. Private rental prices in England show three distinct periods: rental price increases from January 2006 until November 2009, rental price decreases from December 2009 to November 2010, and increasing rental prices from December 2010 onwards. Of these three periods, 2008 showed the largest rental price increases.

Excluding London, England showed an increase of 0.7% for the same period. From August 2012 to August 2013 private rental prices increased in the nine English regions.
The data also shows that rental price increases have been stronger in London and the South East than the rest of England since January 2011.

The figures highlight the heat building in the London market, according to Jonathan Hopper, managing director of property finders, Garrington. ‘During the Autumn we are expecting to see increasing pressure from those wanting to rent as supply tightens leading to a further firming of rental prices,’ he said.

Article Source: http://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/uk-residential-private-rents-201309268283.html

Rental Properties in the UK New Guidance on Adverts Are Issued

This article by the Property Wire on September 10th, 2013 reveals information relating to non refundable fees and tenancy charges in the UK's  residential lettings must now be displayed prominently on marketing and advertising material.


The Committee of Advertising Practice has published new advice which it has sent to all relevant trade bodies across the lettings sector following an Advertising Standards Authority ruling published in March 2013 in which it ruled against a letting agent which had not provided sufficient information about their fees in their online ads.

Residential lettings agents must now make changes to their websites and adverts placed on property portals and in other media and have until 01 November to do so.

‘We’ll be closely monitoring ads in all media from November onwards and will consider appropriate follow up action against non-compliant ads from this date,’ said the CAP.

The guidance comes after the CAP worked closely with bodies such as the Association of Residential Lettings Agents (ARLA) and The Property Ombudsman (TPO) as well as letting agents and private landlords to draw up the new requirements.

CAP has also published a new AdviceOnline, Compulsory costs and charges: Letting agents, for marketers to ensure that they comply with the rules.

Commenting on the CAP guidance, Caroline Kenny of the UK Association of Lettings Agents, said it should provide more clarity to letting agents on how to comply with the ASA ruling in March. ‘We have worked closely and consistently with the CAP and other industry colleagues since the ruling to ensure that any subsequent guidance is as clear and unambiguous as possible for letting agents to adhere to and it is encouraging to see that additional in depth advice regarding compliance,’ she pointed out.

‘We encourage all letting agents to review their property listings across all media platforms before the November compliance deadline in order to ensure they fall in line with the CAP’s guidance,’ she added.

The ASA ruling in March related to property firm Your-move.co.uk Limited which was told to ensure that their adverts make clear when non-optional fees and charges, that could not be calculated in advance, were excluded from quoted prices, and to provide enough information to allow the consumer to establish easily how further charges would be calculated.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RIVS) is also encouraging its members to familiarize themselves with the CAP guidance and to take action to ensure their businesses are compliant with the new requirements.

It pointed out that the CAP guidance articulates what compliance looks like for adverts in different media, with further help and advice available via the CAP copy advice team. 

Article Source: http://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/uk-rental-property-guidance-201309118223.html