Every man and his dog wants to get into property right now it seems. It’s hardly surprising, given that the market is currently in overdrive, with renters and buyers all wanting to get in on the action.
Since the lifting of restrictions, we’ve seen an explosion in activity from renters and landlords looking to facilitate new tenants as a result of this ever-increasing demand.
Most have put this down to a renewed focus on living spaces and accommodation following lockdown. Think, for example, those who are living in the city who are now keen on moving out to quieter surrounding, and vice versa. Also, think about the people who may have been living with family, friends or room mates during the pandemic now looking for their own space.
With this in mind, it now seems apparent that not only private investors, but also businesses and institutional investors are looking to get in on the action and put significant resources into property portfolios, which means that as a renter it’s becoming increasingly likely that your landlord may not be somebody local, but in fact a large business.
Lloyds Bank
One example of this appears to be the news that Lloyds bank are looking to significantly expand their residential property portfolio in the UK in order to balance their losses in the lending market due to record low interest rates.
As reported by the FT, “Lloyds Banking Group is aiming to become one of the UK’s largest landlords by purchasing 50,000 homes in the next 10 years, according to internal documents.
Lloyds last month announced its entry into the private home rental market under the Citra Living brand as an attempt to diversify the bank’s income away from traditional lending, which is being squeezed by low interest rates.”
This represents a pretty significant vote of confidence in the property market by the bank, and perhaps signals what the future may look like for renters when looking for accommodation. But is this a good or a bad thing?
The future for renters
By and large, institutional investors make very good landlords. Firstly, they’re usually very professional about the running of their business and this means they usually have things like electricians, plumbers and maintenance contractors on retainer.
That means for you, as a renter, quick service and turnaround if you have any problems. They’ll also often appoint agents to act on their behalf that have years of experience in property and are very good at addressing queries for you.
That’s not to say that individual landlords don’t do this, of course, but sometimes renters are anxious of renting from businesses rather than individuals, and that needn’t be the case given our experience.
What we can say, is that if you’re looking to rent and have queries or questions, then we’re always happy to help and can answer most things that may be on your mind. The housing market is extremely busy right now and can feel a little daunting at times, so simply pick up the phone or email us if you want to ask anything.
