The results of our most recent tenant survey are in. It shows half of all tenants that moved in the past 12 months found it either “difficult” or “very difficult” to secure a new rental property, an increase of 8% over the last year. While the majority of respondents didn't move over the course of the past 12 months, those that did faced increased significant difficulties in finding a new place to call home.
Matt Trevett, Managing Director at The DPS said, “Finding a new rental property is getting tougher for a growing number of tenants, especially for younger, non-student renters and those who are not in employment, due to a combination of fewer rental properties on the market, the current cost of living, as well as increased mortgage costs for landlords.”
Lack of new construction, property owners reluctant to rent out their properties, and the supply vs. demand imbalance caused by short-term rentals have also fed into the shortage of available rental stock.
Most tenants are choosing to stay put
The majority of tenants that chose not to move this past year were content to stay in their current properties (76%). The remaining 24% would have preferred to move, saying their rentals were in poor condition, and more than a fifth said their rent was more than they could afford. A closer look into their responses provides further insight into the reasons why tenants are considering moving: