as a landlord in brighton until mid 2007,demand for rentals declined for my 7 flats in 2006 as amateur btl buyers came into market- they will lose out now, and three years time is good to buy again. rents are what people can pay, mortgages are what they can borrow( or bs can afford to lend)

jim scannell, lancing, england

Actually, this is more property hype from the same spin machine that inflated the bubble. Central London is 25-28% buy-to-let, its target market is the city, and just who is getting laid-off? Prime central London is in for a shock when occupancy falls and rents with it. As for the rest of the UK?

Colm MacKernan, London,

Stop being greedy. You only need one home. Didn't your mother teach you how to share? Slim down a bit and let others fit on the ladder.

Claire, Oxon,

Just renewed my lease on a flat in London, rent stayed the same and I had an improvement in fixtures and fittings...

When my deal was up for renewal I simply viewd three flats, all empty, and made an offer to the landlord that was promptly accepted...

J, London,

The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA), an industry body with a vested interest in the buy-to-let industry, produces what are seen as the most accurate statistics on private sector rental inflation. What do their figures show? Average rents falling 9% over the past year.

RichB, Cookham Dean, Berks

Risible: 1) Higher rents cannot compensate landlords for imploding capital values 2) Contrast current mortgage rates with rental yield post letting fees etc post tax 3) Evidence on rents provided by vested interest Paragon flatly contradicts ARLA 4) Rents will deteriorate as economy enters recession

stephen, london, uk

Paying interest to a bank is dead money.

Also, paying an inflated price for a house and watching your equity evaporate is also dead money.

David, Bradford, UK

This article dosen't in any way reflect reality on the ground. Rents are static in Edinburgh and have not seen real growth in 5 years. Paragon itself almost went bankrupt recently so is this just a desperate attempt to drum up investor business? It must be, because this article just makes no sense.

MB, Edinburgh,

Before the Housing Act 1989 Britain had a regulated tenancy market with strict rent controls and secure tenancies. The result was that rented properties in the private sector were poorly maintained low quality housing. You cannot have high quality private rented housing without investment.

Danny, Bournemouth,

"Buy-to-let mortgage lender says there's never been a better time for buy-to-let landlords" - we're all shocked! :-)

"The Association of Residential Lettings Agents said that almost 40% of agents had more customers than properties" i.e. "Majority have more properties than tenants. Renters market."

Tim, London, UK

BLTs are far more tolerable than BTLs.

David, London,

We have lived in the same semi for almost 4 years with no rent increases. In view of this, I must treat this article with scepticism.

The Isle of Wight is in a similar situation to the West Country.

Alfred, Ryde, Isle of Wight

Para-gone. 2006 peak value 7500p. Today 77p. Talking about imaginary rent increases won't save it.

Matthew Brook, DORCHESTER, United Kingdom

Here's the thing, everything is going up in price so landlords will have more people defaulting on their rents. A savvy landlord will keep their rents competitive to ensure payment each and every month.

Greedy ones will come unstuck. Put your rents up 10% and be prepared for trouble.

John, London,

Buy To Let mortgage merchants Paragon are saying the anticipated rent that "investors" expect to recieve on a property has increased hugely. Buy To Let mortgages now require rent to cover 130% of the monthly mortgage, so it's no shock that "rents" are soaring, even though real rents are falling

Jay, Brighton,

Keep it simple.
IF rents are going up it's anachronism. If prices go down so should rents. The very reason that drives house prices down -the hability to pay - will drive rents down, sooner or later.
It's only logical.
A catch-up will evetually come.

Rui, Lisbon, Portugal

Paragon sells buy-to-let. The market collapses, so they commission a survey that shows the market really isn't in bad shape. This is unbiased information? Just print Paragon's press release! My rent has not changed for 2 years; there are at least a dozen empty rentals in my small town.

Carol, Derbyshire,

this article made me chuckle. how, if rents are going thru the roof and people like belvoir having more prospective tenants than properties to let, have i just negotiated a 15% decrease in my rent?

why are 2 of the houses on my row (of 4, one managed by belvoir) empty for nigh on 8 months now?

Le Tundoir, Liverpool, England!

So many people here think they are experts. Nonsense, rubbish, rents are not rising! From my own experience they are rising. The house I rent in Bristol has gone up nearly 30% in rental charges this year alone - and all the houses in the area have gone up since I was looking a year ago.

Philip, Bristol, England

I am in agreement broadly with most people who have commented. However, I have found that the rents in my area have actually gone down in the past 10 years ,not up?
Even buying outright, with all the expenses, you are still not going to make 7%, which you can get in a BS now without doing anything.

J Hughes, Newport, South Wales

I agree with VK. In Clevedon rental properties are on offer with 'new, reduced rent.' As for the claimed returns on rental properties, frankly I don't believe them. People talking up rental yields always omit interest payments, agents fees, insurance, maintenance and safety checks. 'Nuff said!

David Clark, Clevedon, England

Gentlefolk

Maybe you need to know from a landlord... rents aren't going up as quickly as 30% - in London at least. But they ARE going up. For all you doomsayers who live more in hope than experience, go find somewhere to live that's cheaper, just don't complain when the plumbing doesn't get fixed

Hany Mustapha, Kingston upon Thames, UK

Rubbish!!
Rents are falling almost in line with the house prices. If the people are missing out on the payments of house mortgage what makes it logical that tenants won't have difficulty in paying the rent!!!! The assumption here is a misconception that if the house prices fall, the rent goes up.

V K, London,

Rents cannot go banana's like house prices as they are based on ability to pay, not the ability to borrow. We will have to wait for BTL landlords to go bust and be repossessed, as many overpaid at the height of the boom and are overgeared to sustain affordable rents.

Paul, London, London

Buy to let specialist lender says now is a good time to be in BTL? Shocker!

Would this be the same Paragon that has seen a 53% fall in business and 70% fall in share price recently?

When ever I feel afraid, I whistle a happy tune so no one will know, i'm afraid...

Mike, Tauranga, New Zealand

It's a simple cycle, people are buying or renting, buying demand pushes up values and renting pushes up rents regardless of what you believe or what your mate told you the pub. Solution move in parents, do me a favour. Despite micro pockets of over supply, rents are only going one way. UP

mark connelly, surbiton, england

I live in the South West and my rent is only 15% more today than it was five years ago. 30% in just one year ... I don't think so! In the meantime, my savings have been accumulating good interest and will enable me to put down a decent deposit on a house when I decide to buy. Not bad news for me!

Andy, Bath,

I think many people will be stuck with mom and dad, I know I am we bought a large 3 storie house to gether and i have the top floor.

Thou they where ment to be moving to austria the credit crounch has left them with out the means to make up the diffrence in the foring mortgae, stuck with them I.

MR W Jones, Liverpool, England

Rents rising says Buy-To-Let mortgage provider.

Now there's a thing.

MD, Milton Keynes,

Give me a one way ticket out and I am gone I can not even get on my local council let alone rent private I have 5 people in a 2 bedroom house my daughter can not afford to move out and her boyfriend had to move in
So buying a house is impossible

Sam Taylor, Stanford Le Hope, England

Anyone else notice that Estate agents are using the same language to talk up rental prices that they used to talk up house prices?

Could this be a desperate attempt to prop up a market that is SERIOUSLY in trouble?

Average yields are 6.4%...mortgage rates are 7%-8%.....

Great investment!

Jon, Reading, UK

What a horribly unclear, inconcise and ambiguous mish-mash of unbalanced quotes and 'statistics'. As (Ian, Poole) points out, first time buyers are highly unlikey to rent a detached home. Apartment rents have risen by 3.3% which aligns with (Chris, Manchester)'s comment.

Charles, London, UK

Oh for gawd's sake. I'm a 'priced out' first-time buyer and I'm a renter who's currently looking for a new place and this is all untrue. I'm deliriously happy that prices are falling, all of us are. And rents are not going up! In N.London, they're the same as they were last year - this is nonsense!

Sarah Abrahams, London,

Why base an article on "evidence" from lenders/est.agents?

How about using official stats from the ONS?

If you do, you will find the truth about rental inflation is that it is rising in line with inflation. Unlike mortgages, rent is capped at peoples ability to pay, not the landlords costs

Nick, London, UK

"... the sharpest rise in rents was for houses, with a detached property costing 36 per cent more to rent"

"Savills predicts that rents will be 4 per cent higher than 2007 prices by the end of this year."

This article is completely self-contradictory! Can't the 'The Times' afford editors?!

Ted, London, UK

My parents have 25 rental properties (bought before the boom). It is true that the houses are more popular but that is because the tenants are house share students or professionals. However talk of 25% rent increases in Yorkshire are laughable.
More like 2.5%!

Stuart, Sheffield, UK

I would generally agree with the article. I am seeing better yields from my BTL properties because they are in good areas and i too am looking for opportunities to add to my portfolio should prices fall.

phil, london,

As others have said, rent control and security of tenure are desperately needed in the UK. Ironic that this is an area where the EU should stick its nose in but hasn't yet. Political pressure will force it onto the agenda eventually - the last nail in the coffin for most landlords?

Clint, Brighton, UK

This is certainly not the case round here I'm afraid. Thank's to the late coming BTLers there are plenty of luxury and executive flats to choose from (no 'normal' flats though, only lux and exec!?) and this is depressing the rest of the market. Rents are below 2005 levels.

Robert, Hull, UK

What a surprise, to discover that Europe has sensible rent-controls and Britain doesn't. Time for Brussels, yet again, to make us do the right thing, as we seem constitutionally unable ever to do it without being forced to.

eric campbell, harrogate , uk

Journalist laps up Press Release from Zombie BTL lender Paragon.

Better story might be to question the basis of these Paragon figures.....

John McMullan, Reigate, Surrey

Heywood and O'Conner. Are they estate agents by any chance ? Like house prices, rents will soon tumble.

Vini, London, UK.

Paragons "research" shows that rents have risen most in detached houses (by 36%) - how many first time buyers rent detached houses?

As long as the rent is less than interest payments on the same property, renters are quids in for as long as they are renting. Renting is absolutely not dead money.

Ian, Poole,

I think they [the BTL lender] mean rents are falling but not as fast as house prices!

Ashley, Kent,

What a depressing country to live in. I think a lot of people will be moving back home to live with their parents, maybe friends will group together. Either way there will not be the money out there to pay for these massive rents.

Chris, C. Norton,

I have 6 BTL flats and rents are going crazy. I offered one flat last week and had 8 prospective tenants on the first day! I have been able to increase rents by 20% this year so far and it looks like it could be at least another 10%-20% by the year end. For me this is the upside of the credit crunch

Chris, Croydon,

And absolutely no protection from the government, scandalous!

Pete, St Albans, England

Renters just hold for a good deal, move in with friends or parents.
There is over supply and they are desperately trying to cover rising repayment costs.
Think about it rising rents in a declining house market? Only as a % not in real terms.

Contracts only allow 3% ish rises anyway.

chris, Manchester,

This report could have been more balanced. A lot of the comments are from organisations that benefit from encouraging landlords to use their services. I have sold all my BTLs, friends that have hung on are seeing falling rent and capital values., so I definitely made the right move.

Mike Livingstone, Reigate, UK

The possiblity of more couples having to live with Mum and Dad become more real each day. This will lead to a change in our culture.
I expect to see more property extensions and loft conversions

V Cooper, Yeovil, UK

The UK urgently need legislation regarding rents.In France it can only go up once a year and only with inflation.Without legislation,the economy is at serious risk due to greedy landlords.

stephen hulton, eure, france

Britain needs the same laws a Spain where rents for long term lets are, by law, only allowed to rise at a published inflation rate amount each year. Those who bought to let wanted only short holiday lets, but there are so many empty homes that they are now desperate for any income.

B J Deller, Marbella, Spain

Still, inflation is only 3.3%. Honest Guv.

Ian, Tokyo, Japan

Nonsense - rents are actually falling in many places in the UK because of excess rental supply. The myth of rising rents is replacing the myth of rising prices as estate agents try to persuade us to keep buying! Remember rents are a function of wages - which are eroding fast with inflation.

Claire, London,

Might as well face up to the real, underlying problem behind all this - Britain is just a ridiculously and extortionately expensive country.

Elaine, Oxted,