26/02/2009 - Property glut `driving down rents`
Rents are being driven down across the UK by a glut of properties coming onto the rental market, says property search engine Globrix.
It has reported an 88% jump in the number listed on its site during January: 53,547, compared with 28,489 in December, and up 40% in the first three weeks of February.
It says the rise is due to more people letting homes they are unable to sell, which is forcing down rents in an already saturated market.
The new rental numbers have been highest in Cardiff (up 244%), Cambridge (231%), Hull (216%) and Coventry (211%). Bath, Doncaster, Birmingham, Salford, Brighton, Glasgow and Swindon are all up by more than 150%.
Daniel Lee, chief executive of Globrix, said: "The decline in rental values in the second half of 2008 has accelerated and is likely to get worse.
"This is a result of the restricted availability of mortgages, the lack of buyer confidence and the dramatic slump in property sales in the second half of 2008.
"Unfortunately, while tenant demand is still high, it is nowhere near high enough to keep up with the avalanche of new properties flooding the market."
Copyright © Press Association 2009
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