Interest Rates and Rent Survey

Last month the Bank of England's interest rate setters kept the cost of borrowing unchanged at 0.5% for the fourth month in a row.

It added it was not planning to extend its quantitative easing scheme under which it creates money to buy bonds in order to stimulate the economy with the pause allowing then to assess economic data and monitor the effectiveness of the scheme.

Despite the unchanged low level of interest rates, rents continue to hold fast at their current rate.  Rob Wellstead of Lenwell Property Services commented,” This unchanged interest rate was widely predicted and despite the delicate balance that usually exists between interest rates and rent , we can report that May, June and July 2009 have continued to be  excellent months, with offices still achieving considerably increased year on year figures.  Rents are holding strong and supply for quality rented property remains very high.”

We have produced a rent survey to assist Landlords with setting ‘Market Appropriate’ rent levels.    If you choose to increase or decrease your rent make sure you pick the optimum time to do so. Ask yourself – do you think interest rates will remain stable over the next 6 – 12 months or are we likely to see a further fall or a dramatic rise?  Are you offering a quality product?  Is the product you are offering in a sparse or saturated market?  Finally, make sure you speak to your Letting Agent.  They have a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience and will be able to provide you with comparable properties to ensure you set your rent at the correct level for the market at that time. 

Bedford

Luton

Northampton

Dunstable

These figures are based on monthly rental incomes before fees on part/fully furnished properties and were collected July 2009.