Estate agent ‘shocked’ by rising rents during pandemic - academic warns of potential ‘market shocks’

The reports come after the News Letter heard of prospective tenants queuing to view rental properties in the Lisburn area amid a shortage of properties.

Yesterday the Department of Communities said it was extending legislation protecting private renters from eviction during the pandemic.

Mark McAlpine, who runs his own estate agency in Lisburn, told the News Letter that rents in the Lisburn and Hillsborough area have risen by 10-15% in the past year.

“I can’t get enough properties to meet demand,” he said. “Previously it would have been common to have two A4 pages of listings but currently this has dropped to two properties. For every property that comes on the books I immediately know four or five people who will want to view it.”

Terraced properties are currently renting for between £450 to £600 in the area. 

He has recently seen NI natives returning from Scotland, Germany and France. “They are finding property is cheaper to buy in Northern Ireland plus they can still keep the same job they were doing by working remotely.”

He is also finding young people are much more content to rent than previously as they find difficulty raising money for a deposit to buy and do not want to commit to a major loan.

Naoimh Leonard, lettings Manager with Reeds Rains estate agents in Belfast sees a similar trend. 

“There is definitely more demand for property this lockdown,” she told the News Letter. “I am quite shocked at the level of rent I am getting. In east Belfast rental properties are not lying vacant for long and maximum rents are being reached.”

Before lockdown mid-terraces would have rented for around £575 but now the same properties are going for £650 to £675, she said.

“Rent and demand are going up from what I can see.”

All seven branches of the estate agency across NI are getting “quite a large number” of new rental properties on their books.

There is also a spike in sales of city centre apartments.

“Investors are selling apartments because demand for them is going down.”

Previous demand for apartments came in large part from executives of major corporations. However demand for them has dropped as there are no restaurants or bars open in the city centre and the same executives now prefer garden space. They can also do the same work from a larger property with a garden further away from the centre, she said.

Mark McIlvenny from Reeds Rains in Newtownabbey says rents have increased “dramatically” since June.

“This time last year we were maybe getting four or five enquiries for a property whereas now we are getting around 15 to 20,” he said.

He believes the demand is partly due to people moving out of apartments and wanting to work from home in a larger property with a garden.

“There is no single reason for it. I believe it to be largely due to the fact we are spending a lot more time in our home therefore people wanting the best possible property for what they can afford.”

Dr John McCord, a Lecturer in the School of Law at Ulster University, said average rents across NI are “accelerating” by 2.9% in the wake of the pandemic to £643 per month.