Leeds Homeowners Have Turned to the Rental Market to Cash In By £20,400 Each

Should you sell or should you buy in this most interesting Leeds property market?

I have calculated that at least 599 Leeds house sellers have rented a home to break their house chain in the last 12 months, although at a cost as they face paying many thousands of pounds in rent.

There are a number of reasons behind this. One is because they cannot find another Leeds property to buy amidst a continuing shortage of new Leeds properties coming to the market. Although, there are others who have achieved such a high price for their home they have decided to cash in and are (hopefully for them) waiting for the Leeds property market drop?

Or will it drop? (More on that later)

Those selling their home have seen the…

average Leeds home rise in value in the last 12 months by £20,400.

Yet, if they have had to go into private renting, they have paid for that privilege in the rent they have had to pay.

The average cost of a six-month rental agreement in Leeds is £5,932, meaning accidental Leeds tenants have pumped £3,553,504 into the Leeds rental market in the last 12 months.

The unevenness between the number of properties for sale and demand for them is at its widest since the early 2000’s. Whilst we have seen a slight improvement in the number of properties for sale in Leeds, there are still…

23% fewer homes up for sale today in Leeds compared to August last year.

This serious shortage of Leeds property for sale is discouraging some hesitant Leeds homeowners from putting their property on to the housing market, anxious they will not be able to find their next home and will be left renting.

Yet some savvy Leeds homeowners are moving into a rented property as a way to navigate the shortage of properties to buy. If you have someone offering you top dollar for your Leeds home, whilst you will have the hassle of two moves, the increase in value of your Leeds home will more than offset the rent.

Also, when you come to buy your next Leeds home, you will be chain free and in pole position to buy your ‘forever home’, rather than being overlooked for the home because you are sold stc and burdened with a chain.

Yet this trend has made life tougher for long-term Leeds tenants.

On average there were normally 4,000 to 5,000 properties available to rent in Leeds on Rightmove at any one time (pre-pandemic), today there are only 2,816 available.

To give you an idea of how this has affected the Leeds rental market, with heightened demand and lower supply, demand for rental properties has grown to such an extent…

the average rent in Leeds has grown from £989 per month a year ago to £1,053 per month today.

Tenants are suffering from less choice and higher rents in the Leeds property rental market, with few indications it’s going to significantly ease on the run up to Christmas.

So, what is going to happen to the Leeds property market?

Well, those of you that follow me know I regularly write about the Leeds property market in my property blog. If you would like some recent articles I have written about the future of the local property, either drop me a line and I will send you some links to those posts, send me a DM or contact me by telephone.

In the meantime, please do share your thoughts on the matter in the comments.