WARRINGTON’S boom town status means housing rental stock has reduced significantly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as more people seek hybrid working.
On Rightmove for Warrington, pre-covid there would have been circa 900 properties available to rent, with plenty of supply, whereas now the average number of properties at any one time is between 100 to 125.
As a result, as soon as a rental property comes on the market it is generally snapped up.
Highlighting the problem, Gary Pemberton from Belvoir Sales & Lettings on Sankey Street, Warrington said: “Hybrid working has meant more people have moved to suburb towns like Warrington where we have a high % of rental stock in houses rather than apartments. People want gardens/back yards ie, their own space.
“Warrington is a boom town with more and more people coming to work in Warrington and in most cases, they initially rent.
“Taxation and Legislation changes have also meant that accidental and traditional landlords are selling up as they are getting strong sales prices for their investments.”
Gary added: There are also new landlords coming into the market, but not at the same rate as ones selling, thus stock has contracted significantly and rents have risen dramatically over the last two years.
“Good quality landlords that buy and maintain good quality rental properties is what we need in the market. However, the government legislation and tax changes over the recent years have worked against rather than with those good landlords.
“We need to Regulate the Lettings Industry, moving standards up for ALL landlords/agents & also incentivise landlords to invest.”
He says landlord investment (They are taking the risk) is one of the components to helping to sort out our housing shortage.
“Anyone wanting to rent now needs to have a clean credit history, know what they want and be swift in their decision-making progress,” added Gary.
Belvoir are the UK’s largest letting agent. For more details CLICK HERE
