Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of tables and figures
- Notes on contributors
- Preface
- one The new private rented sector
- two Private renting in the 21st century: lessons from the last decade of the 20th century
- three Housing benefit and social security
- four Rents and returns in the residential lettings market
- five The private rented sector in rural areas
- six Rental housing supply in rural Scotland: the role of private landowners
- seven The nature of tenancy relationships: landlords and young people
- eight Unlawful eviction and harassment
- nine Changing Rooms: the legal and policy implications of a burgeoning student housing market in Leicester
- ten The Scottish system of licensing houses in multiple occupation
- eleven Housing conditions in the private rented sector within a market framework
- twelve Room for improvement: the impact of the local authority grant system
- thirteen New law, new policy
- References
- Index
four - Rents and returns in the residential lettings market
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 January 2022
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of tables and figures
- Notes on contributors
- Preface
- one The new private rented sector
- two Private renting in the 21st century: lessons from the last decade of the 20th century
- three Housing benefit and social security
- four Rents and returns in the residential lettings market
- five The private rented sector in rural areas
- six Rental housing supply in rural Scotland: the role of private landowners
- seven The nature of tenancy relationships: landlords and young people
- eight Unlawful eviction and harassment
- nine Changing Rooms: the legal and policy implications of a burgeoning student housing market in Leicester
- ten The Scottish system of licensing houses in multiple occupation
- eleven Housing conditions in the private rented sector within a market framework
- twelve Room for improvement: the impact of the local authority grant system
- thirteen New law, new policy
- References
- Index
Summary
Introduction
The Conservative governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major introduced a range of initiatives aimed at breathing new life into the private rental housing market. These included one measure – housing investment trusts – that was specifically aimed at attracting investment in the market by financial institutions (DoE, 1995). Since coming to power in 1997, ‘New’ Labour has made clear that it too sees an important role for the private rental sector (PRS) and that it would welcome investment by financial institutions (DETR, 2000a).
While there has been a modest revival in the size of the PRS over the past decade (see Chapter One), there has been very little investment in the sector by financial institutions. Indeed, financial institutions currently own a negligible amount of private rental housing. There are a number of reasons why they have made no significant investment in the sector, but one of them is the lack of market information about the private rental market. In particular, very little regular and reliable information has existed about residential rents and rates of return (Crook et al, 1995; Coopers and Lybrand, 1996). This situation contrasts with the extensive market information that is available about equities, gilt investment markets and a range of commercial property market indices (Morrell, 1991, 1995). Likewise, there are a number of respected indices for house prices, including those developed by the Halifax Bank and the Nationwide Building Society.
If the financial institutions are to enter the PRS on a significant scale, market information about rent levels and rental yields is necessary to inform their investment decisions (Crook and Kemp, 1999). In considering whether to invest in the sector, fund managers for the financial institutions need to know how the returns from residential lettings compare with alternative investments, such as commercial property and equities. They will also need to know how the returns on the properties they have purchased compare with the average returns being made in the PRS as a whole. Market information of this kind makes it possible for fund managers to carry out performance benchmarking exercises to help inform their investment decisions.
This chapter is based on work undertaken to fill this information gap about rents and returns in the PRS.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Private Rented Sector in a New CenturyRevival or False Dawn?, pp. 43 - 64Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2002