Rental returns still strong but await referendum result?

Letting Referencing firm Homelet report that rents across the UK still continue to rise but at a slightly decreasing rate. Rents agreed on new tenancies over 3 months to the end of May 2016 were up by 4.4% compared to an annual rate of 7.6% in May last year. Landlords and Agents may have been expecting some impact from the increase in rental supply following the race to complete buy to let purchases which occurred to beat the extra stamp duty impact on 1st April. Locally however we can report there is still greater demand than supply for rental homes and despite national incentives to increase housing supply, key drivers such as rising population and employment growth continue upward pressure nationally.

The slowing of the pace of rent rises nationally in May is broadly in line with a similar easing off of price rises in the sales market and Homelet believe this may, in part, be attributable to a broader story of economic uncertainty ahead of this month's referendum on the EU. A temporary blip?