What’s Changed in the Norfolk Rental Market in 10 Years?

In October 2008, the news was dominated by the Credit Crunch. Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced a £500 Billion bailout of the banks responsible for the crisis. This may not seem an auspicious time to launch a fledgling property management company, but that’s what we did! We were certain that there was room in the property market for a lettings company that treated landlords and tenants with respect. We must have done something right: this month at Pearl Lettings, we are celebrating 10 years of being in the property management business. Here’s some of the changes in the letting industry we’ve witnessed during the past decade.

Increased Demand

The biggest change in the private lettings market, and the driver of the other changes we’ll talk about, has been the increase in demand. House prices have risen, making it harder for first time buyers to gain a foothold on the property ladder. At the same time, the provision of social housing has shrunk. The private lettings market has expanded to provide housing for all these extra tenants who in previous times may have owned their home or had access to a council house.

Rising Rents

The laws of economics dictate that prices rise when demand outstrips supply. Over the last 10 years, the population of the UK has grown faster than the housing stock. For reasons outlined in the previous paragraph, demand has been particularly high for private rented accommodation – leading to rising rents. The final chart in this BBC article shows how much average rents have increased in the last 10 years in different regions. Here in the East of England, average rents have increased by £200 per month.

Changing Demographic

Renting has increased among all age groups, but the most marked increase has been amongst the middle aged. The proportion of renters in the 35-54 age bracket has doubled in the last decade. Middle-aged renters have different expectations to younger renters – they may, for instance, have already accumulated lots of furniture and thus be looking for unfurnished properties to rent.

Tenants’ Rights and Responsibilities

There has been a general increase in awareness of tenants’ rights and responsibilities. Groups such as Generation Rent have been formed to better represent the interests of privately renting tenants at a local and national level. Our founding principle was to provide a better deal for responsible tenants. For instance, we have never charged tenant fees – a stance that was practically unheard of when we started our company, but is shortly to be enshrined in UK law.

So, a lot has changed in the rental market in the last ten years. We look forward to embracing the changes to come over the next ten!

We pride ourselves on the good relationships that we forge with our tenants. If you are a responsible tenant looking for a well-maintained home to rent in Norwich and its surrounding areas, please get in touch. You can email us on hello@pearllettings.co.uk or call the office on 01603 980770.