Rent deals, housing hot-spots and sneaky ways to save money

Rents have reversed their Spring trajectory as a tide of homes to let bought before the April Stamp Duty surcharge have reached the private rented sector.

According to the latest Buy-to-Let Index from letting agents Your Move and Reeds Rains, average rents for homes to let across England and Wales now stand at £792 a month. This represents a drop of 0.2 per cent since April, and compares to a long-term average monthly rise of 0.4 per cent every May since the recession.

Adrian Gill, director of lettings agents Your Move and Reeds Rains, said: ‘This is the equivalent of a flash flood for the rental market. Just a month ago rents were heating up and Spring was in the air – but this has been put on hold as a tide of new properties to let has disrupted the normal dynamics of supply and demand. Landlords escaping a much larger stamp duty bill by completing their purchases before April 1 have now finished their repairs and paperwork, with these homes to let competing for tenants in May and into June.