Those looking to rent homes on the Isle of Wight are facing a tough challenge as the Island’s rental market has shrunk by 82%, according to property site Rightmove.
With many Islanders who are not in a position to buy property searching for homes, the shortage has never been more felt. A new study by Rightmove has revealed the added effect that the so-called staycation boom is having on the rental market across the country.
Amongst the locations seeing the biggest decline in available lettings, seaside and coastal towns such as the Island are seeing their situation become the most acute. Compared to 2 years ago in 2019, there are now 82% less houses available to rent.
Add to this the 376% increase in tenant competition for those properties that are available and it soon becomes clear as to why so many are struggling to find somewhere to call home.
The change in tenant competition is measured by the number of tenants enquiring in an area of Rightmove compared to the number of available properties in that area. On the Isle of Wight, just 34 properties are listed on Rightmove, with estate agents reporting that properties are let almost as soon as they are listed.
Matthew White, director at Hose Rhodes Dickson on The Isle of Wight, said:
“In more than 30 years working in lettings, I’ve never seen a rental market like it is now. Stock levels are reducing year on year, and tenant demand is the greatest it’s ever been.
“The Isle of Wight is in a unique geographical position, and due to many now able to work from home, we’re seeing less ‘accidental landlords’, whereas pre-covid, homeowners could find themselves suddenly needing to commute to the mainland due to a change in job or circumstance, which is reducing a source of the rental properties becoming available.
Article continues below this advertisement “A lack of choice and available property also means we’re seeing more tenants staying put. That said, conversely, we’re seeing more investment in property this year, as people look for a greater return on their money, which more often than not, property delivers.”
Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s director of property data, said:
“Landlords in the typical tourist destinations around Britain have been chasing the huge surge in demand for holiday lets this summer, which has led to a temporary drop in the stock available for permanent tenants. However, as the summer holidays are coming to an end, agents are now reporting more landlords turning their attention to longer-term tenants as a more secure and stable option for the rest of the year and into 2022.
“The value of a good tenant should not be underestimated, and with the competition for rental properties in these areas so high right now, it could be a good time for landlords to take stock and consider their best longer-term option.”
airbnb is destroying our island
Yeah, coming to the Island and spending their money in our shops, restaurants, ferries, products….etc.
Greed, landlords, especially a lot on the island offer trashy properties, don’t keep them up and when they do they get part-time cowboys in to do the work, and then most likely throw out the tenants for complaining, and don’t start quoting the “law” it happens despite the “law”. Even Mr Burns, “Excellent”, would offer better properties in Springfield.
Or is it greed by the tenants? It’s notoriously difficult to evict tenants these days, even if they’ve never paid a penny in rent, and the tenants know that they have the upper hand. Meanwhile, most landlords have mortgages to pay and need the rent to cover this. No rent equals no mortgage payment and the property repossessed by the Bank or Building Society.
But, of course, you know better. How many properties have you let to tenants? None, I’d guess. Give it a go and see how you get on when the tenant decides they don’t want to pay or they trash the property and it costs you thousands to put right again.
Maybe if you vetted your tenants properly and didn’t allow in the low life that wouldn’t happen, maybe your properties are just not that attractive to “decent tenants”, ahh but then again if you just use a letting agency, they don’t give a stuff about you or the tenants, maybe do some research yourself and do some real work like the rest of us.
What do you expect .when policy allows tenants not to pay their rent for any reason .landlords get shafted, so sell their property .it’s too much hassle to be a landlord .
It’s easy to tar everyone with the same brush, unemployed or bad tenants etc,but this situation is affecting all families,including mine where they are both working full time,good tenants that pay their rent on time and look after the property as if it were their own,but their landlord has sold up, and find themselves facing homelessness due to the shortage of properties and the amount of people applying for one property.Go on Rightmove,where there used to be pages and pages of homes there are now only one or two.This article scratches the surface of what is going on,some decent journalism asking questions how to solve this crisis is needed.
Just one question, if 82 out of every 100 rental properties now have no tenants, where have they all gone? Or is the island now awash with homeless people?
Well done NIMBY lot. Proof you’re killing the island by blocking any and all building works. At least your house price is going up.
Yes it has gone up .Thank you.
What has happened to the 5 other cojmments that are now missing? I saw someone moaning somewhere, may have been this topic, about some tenants referred to as lower class and couldn’t understand what’s wrong with that? People are called upper or higher, or middle class, so why not lower? people can’t help being born into lower class, it’s nothing to be ashamed about. I don’t mind being called lower class, I don’t need any virtue signalers moaning about it on my behalf. Doesn’t bother me being known as lower class, it’s only the truth.
The change in tax law by George Osbourne has ruined the buy to let market..You pay tax on the whole amount of rent not just the profit.So landlords are selling while the market is high.Who can blame them?
Selling almost all our socail housing at a knockdown price and not replacing it has also led to this awful situation