West Midlands rent at record high in 2015

Tenants renting a home in the West Midlands, whether private or social housing properties, are facing record high rental costs for 2015. Due to both the lack of housing as well as the demand from an improving economy, it now costs almost £600 a month to rent a flat in the area.

With the improving economy across the UK leading to more demand for housing in the West Midlands, there has been a tight inventory. The central government policies are also leading to a shortage of new properties being built as they are not encouraging the development of new homes.

The year over year increase is about 8%, or £48 per month. This is a major increase in expenses for tenants. Not only are people faced with higher rental costs during 2015, but with their benefits being cut and the roll-up of the Universal Credit, there are many families in West Midlands that are struggling to keep up.

There are also new signs of the market slowing down. There have now been multiple months in which new records have been set. This means that during 2015 that £600 a month figure will more than likely continue to increase, which will put more strain on those families on a low income. One big driver of this is the slowly, but steadily, increasing wages across the UK as the job market improves.

Other reason for the increasing cost of housing is students and young people demanding housing. This often peaks in September or October though. With more students enrolling into universities during 2015, this demand for housing is also leading to landlords having the ability to increase rents on their properties.

As noted, people are struggling to keep up with payments. The number of West Midland tenants in rent arrears has increased over 20% in 2015 from past years. This may continue to get worse as well with the government cutting back on benefits. For those families that are struggling, find help for rent arrears in Birmingham and West Midlands.

The news is not got for those looking to take out a mortgage. The data from the Office for National Statistics shows that to buy a home, that will now cost £205,000, which is also a record high. The increasing rents in the West Midlands, when combined with records costs to buy a property, will cause many problems for families in the Birmingham area.

While records continue to be set during 2015, but a piece of goods news is that housing is still cheaper in Birmingham than other cities in the UK. While the average rent of £600 seems high (as it is a record) the average across the UK, including England, Wales, and Scotland is over £800. So the West Midlands area is about 30% cheaper than other regions. Time will tell if this trend keeps up.