RICS survey shows boom in letting

Lettings have soared as sales of residential property have fallen, the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) survey rep has indicated.

The RICS July poll found that a number of indicators for growth in lettings have shown a rise in activity since the previous three-month period.

Examples include 43 per cent more surveyors reporting a rise than a fall in the number of new landlord instructions, compared with 30 per cent in the previous quarter.

In addition to this, 37 per cent more recorded an increase than a drop in new tenancies, this figure also up from a figure of 30 per cent in the first three months of the year.

The number of landlords planning to sell up when current leases expire was just 2.1 per cent, the lowest figure RICS has ever recorded.

RICS spokesperson James Scott-Lee said: "Becoming a landlord is now an increasingly profitable option with rising rents and yields offering good returns."

Last week the Times reported choose one instance of the Times reported that London still has a deficit of supply for rental properties, leading to an average rental figure of £3,000 a month according to Association of Residential Lettings Agents figures, at the weekend.