Rental property growing in popularity Published: 23/09/2008

Rental property is becoming increasingly popular as the credit crunch takes its toll, new research reveals.

With the credit crunch making it less likely that people will fork out to buy property, the number of people renting property has shot up 65 per cent in the past year.

The figures from estate agents Your Move also show the number of people who rent property went up 12 per cent in August.

Rental property levels were therefore up 45 per cent year-on-year, as consumers increasingly see the benefits of renting rather than buying.

Meanwhile, figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show a 36 per cent drop in mortgage lending in the past 12 months.

Commenting on the figures, David Newnes, managing director of Your Move, said would-be buyers are choosing to rent property because mortgages are increasingly hard to come by.

He said: "Tenants are benefiting from unprecedented choice as well as competitive rent.

"We might expect the huge increases in demand for rental property to have driven up rents. But demand is being met by supply - sellers who won’t accept depressed prices put their homes up for rent instead."

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