Cost of renting set to rise

A third more surveyors expect the cost of renting a property to rise in the coming three months than those who think it will fall, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Their expectations are being driven by a continued decline in the supply of flats and houses available to let, as homeowners who were forced to rent out their properties after being unable to sell them, are putting them back on the market again.

The trend led to 23 per cent more chartered surveyors reporting a fall rather than a rise in new landlord instructions in the three months to the end of January, up from 18 per cent more who saw a drop during the previous quarter.

At the same time, the balance of surveyors reporting a rise in rents in the period clawed its way up to zero, following five quarters during which it had been negative, with more surveyors reporting falling rents than those who saw rises.

Demand for rented homes remained strong, with 16 per cent more

surveyors seeing a rise in people who wanted to rent a home than those who saw a fall.