With the arrival of Renter’s Rights on the 1st May, market evidence becomes the currency of rent reviews and rent setting.
There are 5.5 million households in the private rental sector. For all these tenancies, market evidence should become a central part of the annual rent review process. Not all will necessarily have an annual review, but the lionshare will.
In terms of new lets, of which there are an estimated 1.3 million each year, market evidence is now critical for rent setting.
Formalising market evidence and placing it front and centre of rent reviews and new tenancy negotiations is a shift for the industry. Ensuring it is part of the process will help prevent referrals to tribunals.
Another shift, is that achieved rents – not asking prices – are the critical anchor to this evidence led framework.
Research by PriceHubble shows the margin between asking and achieved rents can be significant and varies through the rental cycle. The expectation is the gap between the two will widen under Renters’ Rights. Source: Dataloft by PriceHubble, ONS, English Housing Survey