Rents in Swansea have increased a staggering 9.99% between September and October this year, according to stats provided by property portal Zoopla. 

This puts the average asking rent at £871pcm.  Rents jumped for the same period last year (6.94%), but the average asking rent now is 6.49% higher than it was in October 2019.  

Data from Zoopla and recorded in our monthly McCartan Rental Tracker.

Changing Demand 

There could be several factors at work here with supply and demand of certain property types and locations driving the market. 

Tenants planning to move during the initial lockdown chose or had to delay moving until restrictions eased. This may have resulted in more people looking to move through the Summer than we’d normally expect. 

Due to lockdown, tenants’ priorities have changed in Swansea, too, so tenants may have been looking to leave earlier than their contract dates as securing somewhere with better internet speeds, or with a garden, became more important than early termination fees. 

Properties with these desirable features will thus be in higher demand, and rents will rise.  

The demographic of tenants looking to move is also likely to have changed over the Summer as more employers made the decision to let staff work from home indefinitely.  

No longer required to go into the office, tenants have more options on areas to live in. If they’re moving from high-rent areas, they’re likely to be more willing to pay what we’d consider to be a high rent in Swansea.   

Many relocations from England have been recorded too, not just for sales but lettings as well. If the tenants can maintain their level of income through home working, then rents in Swansea are substantially more affordable – or they could get a much bigger property with a better family lifestyle, than what they had before. 

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A Rocky Road for Rents Ahead

With the furlough scheme comes to an end and redundancies set to increase over the next few months, we may find more tenants on lower incomes and reliant on Universal Credit and other benefits (who won’t then qualify for the Welsh Government’s Tenancy Saver Loan). 

This is going to be a seriously risky time for landlords.

Generation Rent, a pressure group acting as the “national voice” of private renters, is sharing advice through Twitter on how tenants across the UK can negotiate a lower rent, and encouraging tenants to conduct market research on the area and factor in the condition of the property when approaching landlords.  

Landlords and agents setting rents now really need to be doing their research to make sure that the rents they’re setting are achievable and manageable to avoid costly voids or rent payment defaults, along with being extra vigilant with referencing.  

Now is the time to assess what your property is achieving in rent – check out this Free Rental Valuation Tool.

Sources:  Zoopla / Landlord Today

 Related: Rental Tracker October / UK Landlords Struggling with Conflicting Laws