Letting agents relied on for housing needs

News Category: Industry News

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Letting agents have seen a busier period as more and more households are relying on them for housing, it has been stated.

The Communities and Local Government's English Housing Report shows that between 2001 and 2008/09, the number of households in the private rented sector rose by one million.

Nigel Terrington, chief executive of independent specialist finance provider Paragon Group, explained that socioeconomic factors could be one of the reasons why more people were relying on renting from letting agents and landlords.

"There are growing numbers of single person households, economic migrants and students, and these groups all have a greater propensity to rent rather than buy," he commented.

Mr Terrington added that the government needed to recognise the changes and create an environment in which investment in the sector was encouraged.

This follows letting agents being warned about the renewal fees they charge landlords for their services by The Office of Fair Trading, which recently ruled against a letting agent, saying that its charges were "not transparent".

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