Landlords are bearing the brunt of criticism but are necessarily part of the solution
- Written by Tim McKibbin
The rental market is under the microscope at the moment with the extreme shortage of rental accommodation of real concern.
Upward pressure on rents is an obvious outcome of the lack of rental supply and the reality is that this situation is here to stay until actual supply side solutions are implemented, and begin to take effect.
Landlords are bearing the brunt of criticism but are necessarily part of the solution.
It’s too simplistic to point to high rents as the sole motivation to invest in property when there are other demands on landlords which make the proposition less attractive.
This point is made clear when you consider many landlords have exited the rental market in recent times.
As spring approaches we are seeing listings trend upwards as anticipated.
While buyers can be expected to remain wary of over-extending, particularly given the current interest rate uncertainty, they remain on the lookout for value.
The idea of the property downturn may continue to dominate headlines but vendors who get their pricing strategy right can take their property to market with confidence.
Whether investors begin returning to the market in greater number remains to be seen however. Investment activity is still not where it was pre-pandemic, which means we can expect little to change in the rental market in the near term.
