February is likely to have been met with a mixture of relief and concern by landlords. The good news was that the length of voids appears to have gone down, but the less welcome news is that average rents have also dipped a little.
Reporting the changes in an article on the 5th of March, Landlord Today revealed that the length of the average void in the UK’s let property market dropped from 20 days in January to just 19 days in February.
Landlords in London had reason to be most pleased since average voids in the capital fell from 15 days to 10 days. But those in the South East, South West, West Midlands and the North West also had cause to celebrate since void periods there also declined.
Bucking this trend, though, voids in the East Midlands went up from 19 days in January to this month’s average of 27 days. Voids in the North East of England also increased slightly – from 22 days in January to 24 days in February.
At the same time, rents across England and Wales dipped slightly by between 1% and 2% – falling from an average £875 per calendar month in January to £864 a month in February. This shift may be less a cause for concern because rent increases in February are typically avoided by landlords.
Three regions were luckier than the average. Rents in the South West went up by an average 2% while those in the South East and the Midlands saw rent increases averaging around 1%.
