As we all know, the economic turmoil in the UK over the past 2 years has made it so that first time buyers have found it incredibly difficult to secure a mortgage. With banks looking for deposits of around 20%-25%, most young, first time buyers cannot gather the capital to purchase a property and so have been having to rent instead.

As we all know, the economic turmoil in the UK over the past 2 years has made it so that first time buyers have found it incredibly difficult to secure a mortgage. With banks looking for deposits of around 20%-25%, most young, first time buyers cannot gather the capital to purchase a property and so have been having to rent instead.

This has lead to competition for rental properties all over the UK, giving landlords the ability to fill their properties easily, pick and choose tenants and even raise their rental yields as more people are competing for their properties.

Rental Prosperity

Well, all of you lucky landlords will be happy to know that this rental prosperity looks set to continue! According to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), figures show that landlords in the UK have experienced their 7^th consecutive quarter of growing rental yields.

The latest figures cover the period up to November 2011 and show that the rental market is still growing strong. It also shows that landlords are growing their portfolios to take advantage of these good yields and make more out of the market.

RICS

When asked about the new figures, James Scott-Lee, a spokesman for RICS, said: “Tenants were not happy about having to pay more for accommodation but had little choice. Indeed, despite a measure of resistance to rising rent levels from tenants, in some parts of the country the imbalance between demand and supply for rented property suggests that for the foreseeable future landlords will have a good if not increasing return on their investments in comparison with other main stream options.”

More surprisingly, the latest figures also reveal that more and more people who cannot sell their homes are becoming landlords in order to generate an income from their properties. Anyone in the UK with an empty property can definitely make a bit of extra money by renting it out, although they should be aware that they will need to meet certain health and safety standards and should take out a landlord insurance policy.