Rental market activity soars

Over the past couple of weeks, we've talked about the property market picking up in general. A Bedfordshire-based lettings company has now released their latest research, showing tenancies have increased in the UK by 22% last year and 20% in London.

How did that come about? While mortgage finance has become more widely available and 95% mortgages are back (we blogged about it a few times), many would-be first time buyers continue to struggle to take that first step onto the property ladder.

At the same time, property prices have remained relatively low for a few years and are still well below those achieved at the peak of the market in 2007, which has enabled investors to grab a number of property bargains.

Edinburgh students queuing to view a Marchmont property

Whilst a good choice of affordable buy-to-let finance took longer to become available, tenant demand continued to rise. Prospective investors and landlords are now in a position to choose between both desirable mortgage deals and great properties with high net yields. Take the months of may and June as an example: Over the space of three weeks, the Cullen Property team bought over £1 million worth of investment properties on behalf of our clients.

Looking back a little further, at what we consider 'student rental season' between February and April it's clear to see why residential property in Edinburgh, especially that aimed at the student market, remains so popular - all flats that became available for the coming academic year were rented out to new tenants within a number of weeks.