Investors across the UK make record profits

As rents grow at fastest ever rate…

Despite projections that the lettings market was set to cool down in 2022, there’s great news for investors as demand continued to rise last month, helping landlords throughout the UK to make record profits on their properties.

There were some hugely positive indicators for landlords last month as Rightmove announced that overall demand is 32% higher than this time last year and the number of available properties is 51% lower. Rents across the UK have increased at their fastest ever rate, and in some areas, tenant competition has doubled. The data also suggests UK rental yields are now at their highest point since 2016, and at their highest level ever in North East England and Wales*. For landlords, this is a great window of opportunity to maximise on a rapidly expanding market in 2022.

Is buy-to-let worth it?

London is back on the map

As restrictions continue to ease and COVID plays a smaller role in the publics day to day lives, the nations cities are going from strength to strength. Property owners in London have plenty of reason to celebrate as rents in the capital have risen beyond pre-pandemic levels for the first time and are now 3% higher than at the beginning of 2020*. Many boroughs saw a growth in average rent of over 20% including Westminster, Tower Hamlets, Camden, City of London, Hammersmith, Fulham and Islington.

After London, the North West has seen the largest growth in rental prices in the last year as Liverpool and Manchester are attracting more and more people back towards urban lifestyle choices. Rents are now 10.3% higher than they were in January 2021.The average rent paid in the region is £855*^.

Whats happening in the sales market?

According to Rightmove, average house prices have increased to £341,019 taking annual growth to 7.6% since January 2021. This is the highest yearly price rise since 2016**. And, it's not just a substantial rise in prices that’s getting people excited - there are lots of positive indicators for those considering selling their home in 2022.

The low number of sellers listing their homes meant that those that did list reaped the benefits as buyers across the UK made large offers and moved promptly in order to secure their purchase ahead of the competition. As well as a lack of sellers there is a growing number of buyers looking to purchase a home - in fact, the number of enquiries to agents across the UK is 15% higher than this time last year**.

Is Scotland still booming?

The market north of the border continues to go from strength to strength and sellers are seeing huge profits on their properties. Throughout Scotland demand is now so high, on average it only takes 27 days to sell a home**. In Edinburgh, the average house price is 243,200 - an increase of 3.3% since May last year. The number of buyers is also continuing to increase in Glasgow as prices have grown at a similar rate during this period (3%)**.

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*https://hub.rightmove.co.uk/rental-trends-tracker-q4-2021
**https://www.rightmove.co.uk/press-centre/house-price-index/january-2022/
^https://advantage.zpg.co.uk/house-price-index-report
*^https://homelet-letting-agents.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/HomeLet-Rental-Index-January-2022.pdf