Demand for rented homes is outstripping the supply of properties available to let, research claimed today.

Demand for rented homes is outstripping the supply of properties available to let following a rise in reluctant tenants, research claimed today.

The Association of Residential Letting Agents (Arla) said the number of homes available to let was falling, while demand for rented accommodation was rising as people struggled to find properties to buy or mortgages they qualified for.

Around 41pc of letting agents said there were more potential tenants than properties during the final quarter of 2009, up from 24pc during the three months to the end of September.

The situation is a marked turnaround from early last year, when the rental market was flooded with properties from so-called accidental landlords, as people who had been unable to sell their home while house prices were falling, were forced to rent it out instead.

But the number of accidental landlords has fallen in recent months as the property market has picked up, enabling them to sell their homes.

At the same time, many people who would like to buy a property are struggling to find somewhere suitable, due to the shortage of homes on the market, while others are unable to raise the deposits they need to meet the strict lending criteria of banks and building societies, forcing them to rent instead.

Around 54pc of letting agents said they thought consumers were being forced to rent a property rather than buy one.

The research also showed that the length of time for which a property is empty between tenants fell slightly during the fourth quarter to 3.9 weeks, down from four weeks during the previous three months.

Ian Potter, operations manager at Arla, said: “New tenants include those homeowners who were forced to sell their home during the last year either due to financial instability or a job move.

“And many people now in a position to buy are struggling to find the right property, as there is also a shortage of both properties for sale and realistic mortgages.”

But he warned that, while the private rented sector would be key to meeting the accommodation needs of future generations, it was likely to struggle without significant Government support.

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/

Commercial property values rose by 3pc in December, the highest monthly gain since records began, according to the IPD.

The final month of last year delivered the largest monthly capital growth in IPD’s 23-year history, at 3pc, according to December’s IPD UK Monthly Index.

The figure beats the 2.9pc delivered exactly 16 years earlier in December 1993, at the end of the last major property recession.

The fifth-consecutive monthly gain, which amounted to a compounded growth of 8.8pc, was sufficient to lift returns on UK commercial property into positive territory for the calendar year. In the first IPD indication of the year, UK commercial property annual total returns for 2009 were 2.2pc, while capital growth was -5.6pc.

At the sector level, the most recession-sensitive sector, offices, began its recovery latest. Capital values fell by 14pc over the first eight months of the year but then recovered – the sector was down 8.4pc over the 12 moths. In the retail sector, over the first six months of 2009 capital growth also fell by 14pc but ended the year down by just 4.3pc.

The Industrial sector’s initial capital depreciation last year was the shallowest, at minus 11pc over the seven months to July, before a compounded 7.3pc capital growth over the final five months to end the year at minus 4.5pc.

Investors have been returning to the sector in recent months off the back of the sector’s recovery.

Aviva has just raised more than £200m for its UK Real Estate Recovery Fund, which will invest in British commercial real estate over a five-year period.

Since the fund’s launch at end-November 2009, it has bought three properties, with two more due to be acquired soon, adding up to about £50m in investments so far, the company said in a statement.

“The fund’s strategy is to acquire lower-risk assets that are let to strong covenants on long leases in sectors and sub-sectors that we forecast to be top performers,” said fund manager Rob Walton.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/

Vouchers worth £400 that go towards the cost of a new energy-efficient boiler under the scrappage scheme will be issued on January 18.

The Government announched the scrappage scheme which encourages people to ditch their for old boiler for a new one in the pre-Budget report. It hopes the scheme will help cut CO2 emmissons – domestic heating accounts for 14 per cent of the UK’s CO2 emissions.

New boilers have rated efficiencies of 90 per cent or more meaning that they use less fuel, resulting in lower CO2 emissions and running costs. Renewable heat technologies do not use fossil fuels, reducing CO2 emissions still further.

By upgrading your G-rated boiler to an A-rated one, your household heating bill should drop by about a quarter – a saving, on average, of around £235 a year.

People who apply to the scheme will receive their voucher on or after January 18.

The Energy Saving Trust says that a good quick test for gas boilers is to see if it has a permanent pilot light -if it has then it is very likely to be a G-rated boiler. If it is gas fired and over fifteen years old it is likely to be eligible. If it is oil fired and over twenty five years old, it is likely to be eligible.

For a better idea, see if your boiler make and model is listed as G-rated or worse by clicking here .

The £50m scheme, which will benefit only people living in England, is likely to be funded entirely by the taxpayer.

Will Marples, an energy expert at uSwitch.com, the price comparison service, said: “Heating and hot water account for £756 a year on average so it makes absolute sense to focus energy efficiency efforts here, where people have the most to gain. Installing a modern efficient boiler can save up to £235 a year on heating bills.

“However, for many families and households the cost of buying one and having it installed is prohibitive. Hopefully this new scrappage scheme will put it within reach of more people.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/household-bills/

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Property asking prices fell for the second month in a row during December, according to Rightmove.

Property asking prices fell for the second month in a row during December as the market suffered its traditional seasonal slowdown, research showed today.

The 2.2pc drop left the average property put up for sale in England and Wales during the four weeks to December 5 nearly £5,000 cheaper at £221,463, according to property website Rightmove.

But despite the fall, which came as the number of homes for sale hit its lowest level for 21 months, house prices are still 1.7pc higher than they were 12 months ago.

All areas of the country saw a fall in asking prices during the month, except East Anglia, where they rose by 0.5pc.

The North saw the biggest price slide at 5.8pc, followed by the North West and South East, both at 4.3pc.

The group said it expected to see a further price drop during the coming month, as winter sellers generally ask for lower prices in a bid to secure a sale.

It is then predicting a burst of activity and price rises in the early spring, before the housing market enters a “more challenging period” after the General Election.

Overall, it thinks asking prices will remain flat during 2010, after rising by around 2pc this year.

But the group expects to see big geographical and socio-economic variations, with desirable areas where there continues to be a shortage of homes for sale seeing further price increases.

Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove, said: “Sales volumes are still set to remain well down on historic norms, with the consequent thin-market danger of relatively small changes in economic fundamentals having a marked impact on asking prices.

“We have already seen how some local markets have been adversely affected by over-supply of property and a lack of mortgage-ready buyers, and more areas could become similarly blighted if forced sales increase later next year as expected.”

The group expects only around one million homes to change hands during 2010, half the level seen in 2007.

But it warned that there could be more forced sales during the year, particularly if lenders showed less forbearance to borrowers who are in arrears after the election.

While the housing market is expected to have a subdued year during 2010, the rental one is expected to benefit from rising demand from people who are unable to buy their own home.

At the same time, the supply of rental properties is expected to fall as accidental landlords, who rented out their home after being unable to sell it, put their property on the market again.

Mr Shipside said: “Existing landlords will find themselves in an increasingly privileged position in 2010, where competition from new landlords is frozen out by a dearth of buy-to-let mortgages.

“In addition, tenant demand and landlords rental returns will grow due to demand from those who are unable to buy.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/borrowing/mortgages/