Tenants who’ve recently moved house are struggling to cope with higher rental costs, according to a survey from The Deposit Protection Service.
Of those who’ve moved in the past year three quarters (72%) had to pay higher rents in their new place.
Two thirds (65%) said their rent had gone up by more than 30% while 8% reported it rising by a drastic 50%.
Perhaps it’s not surprising therefore that the majority (73%) said they were forced to reduce expenditure on essentials like food and heating to meet their new payments.
Matt Trevett, managing director at The DPS, said: “Rent reviews allow landlords or letting agents to adjust the rate to reflect any new cost pressures. The tenancy agreement should set out when these can take place.
“We’d encourage tenants to be open with prospective landlords about what they can reasonably afford to pay and for landlords to explain the rationale behind any increased rents at the outset.
“An open dialogue is crucial to preventing misunderstandings and can help avoid disputes.”
The limited supply of rental stock in the UK has been an ongoing problem for years, as the National Residential Landlords Association has called for the UK’s political parties to place more of a focus on the issue.
Zoopla analysis shows that rents increased by 6.6% annually, however landlords are likely to charge more for new tenants than existing renters.
Landlords have seen their profits squeezed by higher mortgage and energy costs, resulting in some passing on rising costs in the form of hefty rental increases.
However, if the DPS research is anything to go by, a number of tenants are being left extremely stretched in the current climate.
This news comes despite tenants making a number of compromises when moving.
A third (35%) of movers said they’d had to relocate further from their place of work than they’d wanted, 36% said that they’d had to rent in a cheaper area and 39% admitted downsizing.
