Second toilet anyone? 41% say yes!

During the week of the Diamond Jubilee, statistics wizards at Lloyds TSB have looked at what’s happened to the private rental market over the past sixty years. Whilst their findings are specifically for England, it’s a similar picture in Scotland showing that not only do 41% of households now have a second toilet – but also reminding us that renting a home was very popular in the 1950s. The number of home owners grew in the 1970s and 1980s, but now renting’s on the up once again.

And as renting is getting more expensive overall, landlords are being warned that they can’t increase rents much more as affordability is becoming a problem. Having said that, one residential lettings agency is seeing a decline in rents today. Overall though, rents are still on the up, especially for high quality properties. What’s important, both in the interest of the tenant and the landlord, is to ensure that the tenant can afford the property long term and while checks on income and employment status may feel intrusive, they benefit all parties in the long run.