"Tenants face a number of obstacles when looking to secure a rental home and whilst the cost is certainly a sizable one, the initial struggle is their ability to find a property in the first place in what has become a very fast-moving, competitive market"
- Adam Piggot - OpenBrix
Newly released research by tlyfe has revealed how a highly competitive rental market is seeing tenants paying hundreds, sometimes thousands of pounds more over the course of their tenancy, due to the time it's taking them to secure a rental property.
Analysis of ONS rental market data by tlyfe shows that, over the last year, the monthly cost of renting across Britain has increased by an average of £8 each and every month.
A survey of renters, commissioned by tlyfe, found that the average tenant spends two and a half months searching for a rental property and, in a fiercely competitive market, they need to apply for at least two properties before they are able to secure a roof over their head.
When asked what the main factors were in failing to secure a rental property, the number one reason was that the property in question had already been let by the time they applied.
The second biggest issue faced was that there were multiple tenants applying for the same property and it had gone to someone else, whilst the third biggest factor was that numerous applicants had caused the rent agreed to increase beyond their affordability threshold.
But it’s not just competition, it’s time that is driving up the cost of renting for the average tenant.
With the average time taken to find a rental property sitting at two and a half months, this means tenants are seeing the cost of renting increase by almost £20 per month from the point they begin their search to the point they secure a rental property.
Over the course of a 12-month tenancy, this equates to an additional £235 paid in rent for the average tenant.
Of course, for some, the search for a property takes far longer and tlyfe found that 52% of tenants take between two to six months before they secure a rental property, with 43% applying for between two to 10 properties before they are successful.
Those taking six months to find a rental home will see the average cost of renting increase by an estimated £48 per month from the time they start their search to signing a tenancy agreement - that’s an additional £576 over the course of a 12-month tenancy.
But spare a thought for the small proportion of tenants for whom it took between 7 months to a year in order to find a rental home. With rents increasing by an average of £8 per month, those searching for a full 12 months will have seen the average monthly cost of renting increase by £96 by the time they secure a property, equating to an additional cost of £1,152 over the course of their next 12-month tenancy.
CEO of OpenBrix, Adam Pigott, commented: “The rental market is straining under the immense pressure caused by soaring tenant demand and an inadequate supply of rental homes and it’s this imbalance that has caused rents to soar so consistently in recent years.
"As a result, tenants face a number of obstacles when looking to secure a rental home and whilst the cost is certainly a sizable one, the initial struggle is their ability to find a property in the first place in what has become a very fast-moving, competitive market.
"This means that not only does the average tenant have to apply for multiple properties before they are successful, but their search can drag on for months on end, as they no doubt view a whole lot more than they actually apply for.
Adam adds: "At the same time, the cost of renting continues to climb meaning that by the time they do secure a property, it’s even more expensive to rent, seeing them pay hundreds of pounds more over the course of their tenancy - sometimes even thousands of pounds more.
"Whilst little can be done to stem the increase in rental properties, particularly whilst supply remains such an issue, tenants can look to get ahead of the game when it comes to being rent-ready. That’s why we’ve developed tlyfe in order to help them get their house in order so that when a rental property does become available, they can be at the front of the queue of applicants.”
