With younger people needing mobility to survive a difficult job market and because our culture is shifting towards one of ‘going out’ rather than ‘staying in’, renting a room is increasingly popular. It may be that more people opt for room rents as the quality is increasing too. The most recent trends which has been spotted in this market though is the rise of so called ‘Granlords’.
The reason is older people appear to be finding it tougher to make ends meet as Matt Hutchinson, Communications Director explains. “SpareRoom.co.uk has seen a 23% rise in people over 65 taking in lodgers in 2013 (compared to 2012). The over 65s - like everyone else - are finding the cost of living increasingly difficult to manage. For many the simplest way to boost their finances is taking in a lodger.” And maybe this will help to bring the old and young closer together. “While younger live-in landlords may be quicker to embrace this change - having lived in shared accommodation before - older homeowners might have reservations. That's understandable of course but with the right information and a little planning it can be a fantastic, and flexible, way to bring in some extra cash.” Matt concludes.
We work closely with SpareRoom who run their own Index to help buy to let landlords and tenants understand the trends in renting a room and they support our Rent a Room Checklist.
National room rent trends:-
2013 versus 2014 4%
Quarter 4 versus Quarter 3 2013 No change
Regional Room Rent Trends
As always, even when renting a room, each region differs. Matt talks through the regional differences “Looking at rents on a regional level we see that very few regions had large rent rises, most keeping to one or two percent rises annually. The exceptions are Northern Ireland, which has seen rents jump by 18%, and Scotland, which saw a 6% rise since last year. Outer London room rents rose by 4% since 2012. Our latest index reveals towns where rents have risen the most in the last 3 months: Guernsey, Galashiels, EC and WC London postcodes all rose by more than 6% this quarter. We saw large falls in rent in Llandidrod Wells, which saw a 29% decline in room rents, and Aberdeen, where rents fell by almost 16% this quarter.”
Northern Ireland 2013 versus 2012 18%
Scotland 6%
Download Kate's full rental analsysis
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