A new survey has revealed that the proportion of landlords in the UK who use a lettings agent to help manage their property has taken a sharp rise.
Landlords in Need of Help
In a recent poll conducted by the National Landlords Association (NLA) over 750 landlords were surveyed and it was found that in Q4 of 2016, there was a 7% rise in the number of landlords who chose to use a lettings agent, taking the total to 61%.
The NLA describes the recent rise as a ‘break from the norm’ as over the last 2 years the number of landlords who us an agent has hovered around the 50% mark, only rising by 1% between 2014 and 2016.
It was found that agent usage by region is the highest in Scotland with 79% of landlords choosing to rely on agents and the North East tops the table for the highest agent usage in England, however, London, the South West and Wales have all seen significant increases.
Changing Industry
The report indicates that the reason for increasing reliance on lettings agents is due to the variety of changes introduced over the last year that have affected landlords businesses. Rises to stamp duty, changes to taxation for landlords and bans placed on charging fees to tenants has added strain to landlords businesses and they now seek professional help when it comes to managing their portfolio.
NLA CEO, Richard Lambert, commented on the findings for the research, stating that ‘As landlords plan ahead to compensate for the tax changes over the next few years we would expect to see the number who use an agent to slowly fall away, and for more to start considering whether they are able to manage their properties themselves,’
Lambert added ‘However, this sudden spike, which is completely out of step with recent trends, completely turns this theory on its head. The big question is whether or not it’s a blip or if it will continue to rise,’
Fife Properties Head of Lettings, Richard Cook commented, “This is no surprise as more and more landlords can’t cope with the abundance of legislative requirements being put on them by the Scottish Government. It’s important though to make sure you choose a letting agent with a track record. At Fife Properties we are now in our 7th year as the No.1 Lettings Agent (ESTAS) in Fife as voted by our landlords. We have taken the extra step to make sure all our letting agents (not just one) are fully qualified now to the new mandatory LETWELL (Chartered Institute of Housing) standards being introduced for all letting agents in 2018”
