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Buy To Let

Landlords not fearful of Brexit

adamlewis
Written By:
adamlewis
Posted:
Updated:
23/06/2016

If the UK votes to leave the EU today, letting agents do not fear a major shift in the rental market.

Lettings agents don’t think that supply, demand, or rental costs will be significantly affected by the result of today’s referendum, whatever the outcome, according to the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA).

In a survey it found that two thirds of agents expect supply to stay the same if the UK votes to leave the EU, compared to just a fifth who predict it will fall as international landlords pull out of the market.

Drop in demand

A third of letting agents expect to see demand for rental property decreasing in the event of Brexit, as relocating to the UK becomes a less attractive prospect, but over half (55%) disagree, saying it will remain just as high.

In London, almost half (43%) of agents expect the number of prospective tenants per property to fall if we leave the EU, as international demand weakens.

While 19% of agents expect a Brexit result to cause upward pressure on rent costs, the majority don’t imagine a massive change for tenants’ rents, if Britain exits the EU.

David Cox, managing director of ARLA, said: “There is no avoiding the EU Referendum at the moment; and whatever the outcome, we are likely to feel the impact of the fallout of this debate in different ways.

“However, it’s important to put this into perspective and not get carried away in a zeitgeist. As outlined in our recent Brexit Report, the lettings market hosts a large number of non-UK born citizens and any change in migration policy is likely to have an impact down the line, especially in London. However, our monthly report clearly shows the sentiment amongst members is that the immediacy of this effect is likely to be minimal.”