Landlords urged to offer furnished town and city flats for higher rental returns

UK landlords seeking the best rental returns should look to furnished flats in towns and cities given the demand for these from young, mobile tenants, according to Countryside research. Users of Advanced Rent's tenant referencing services will be intrigued to read of the 8.1 per cent premium for furnished flats and the 2.8 per cent premium for furnished houses, compared to their unfurnished equivalents.

The report also showed a 3.7 per cent year-on-year rise in UK rents as of July, outer London being the major driver of growth. The letting agency also advised landlords that educating themselves on the properties that potential tenants are looking for and letting furnished properties in key areas would enable them to achieve higher monthly rental returns.

The greater profitability of furnished properties in towns and cities can be attributed to such areas having a younger tenant population. Such tenants typically possess little or no furniture, and are therefore willing to pay more for the landlord to provide it. This compares to rural areas, where there tend to be more families who already have their own furniture and therefore specifically seek out unfurnished properties.

Some urban locations of greater affluence even enable a landlord to attract a third more in rent from a furnished property than they could expect from an unfurnished one. UK city centre locations where landlords offering furnished properties have prospered include Salford in Manchester. Here, the rental market has been transformed by the influx of BBC employees willing to pay a premium for furnished flats in close proximity of the offices of the corporation that has partly relocated here.

Users of tenant referencing services like those of Advanced Rent will also be pleased by the continuing rise in average monthly rents in England, Scotland and Wales, which stood at £898 as of July 2014. Central London continues to enjoy the highest average monthly rent at £2,503 per calendar month. Year-on-year average monthly rent rises have been seen across almost all property sizes, the greatest increases being recorded for one bedroom properties, seeing a 4.2 per cent year-on-year increase and a 1.5 per cent rise on a month-by-month basis.

Nick Dunning, Countryside Group commercial director, commented: "Whether you are a first time landlord or a seasoned investor it is important to understand what tenants are looking for. This not only helps to minimise void periods but also assists in achieving the highest return from the rental property."

Editor’s Note: Advanced Rent (http://www.advancedrent.co.uk) is represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.

Rental market booming for English landlords

It will please many an English landlord making use of Advanced Rent's tenant referencing services to learn that their rental market is presently a booming one. A new study has found that earnings from rental payments now exceed £32 billion per year, or almost £2.7 billion per month.

The largest proportion of private rental income in England is collected by London landlords at £14 billion per year, which is higher than the North East, East Midlands, West Midlands, Yorkshire and East Anglia put together. It means that the capital accounts for 44 per cent of England's rents.

Outside London, Leeds is the highest ranking city for annual private rent paid at £565 million, followed by Birmingham at £521 million and Manchester, which recorded £401 million. Rental incomes, however, are dominated by London and the Home Counties, with Inner London's highest average rents being £19,596 per year or £1,633 per month.

The capital aside, the highest rents were seen in Elmbridge in Surrey, at £18,948 per year or £1,579 per month. South Buckinghamshire's private rental costs of £1,530 gave it a ranking of second place. However, strong rental incomes were still commanded by landlords outside these regions. High rental costs were seen in many areas outside the London commuter belt like North Somerset and Bath and the Cotswolds, both areas where annual rental incomes exceeded £11,000.

The largest proportion of households privately rented, when London was not considered, could be found in Bournemouth (30 per cent), followed by the Isles of Scilly (29.7 per cent) and Brighton and Hove (29.6 per cent). However, Inner London still boasted the country's highest proportion of private renters, at 30.7 per cent.

While soaring property prices have made for greater numbers of private rented tenants, landlords need to be aware of the dangers before investing. Thankfully, Advanced Rent can provide the insurance products to give new and established landlords vital peace of mind, particularly when they come to expand their portfolios.

Advanced Rent has won particular acclaim in recent times for its tenant referencing services that give landlords a full reference for a fair price. With standard checks including a six year credit history as well as employment and income verification and a guarantor validation and suitability check, they're among the many aspects of Advanced Rent's offering that help to make life easier for landlords throughout the United Kingdom.

Editor’s Note: Advanced Rent (http://www.advancedrent.co.uk) is represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.