Landlord exodus hands first-time buyers chance to buy at bargain prices
One in nine homes up for sale is now an ex-rental property as landlords flee the market, new data reveals.
Property website Zoopla said former landlord properties had average asking prices around a quarter lower than homes that have been lived in by owner-occupiers, at £190,000 and £250,000 respectively.
It suggested some landlords were "looking to rationalise their portfolios in the face of higher mortgage rates" and said first-buyers should be prepared to tackle a "doer-upper".
It comes as landlords have been hit hard by rising buy-to-let mortgage rates, and also by the threat of more red tape regulation and the loss of tax breaks.
Guy Gittins, chief executive of estate agent Foxtons, said more renters who were now in a position to buy have accelerated their search "given the extreme supply and demand imbalance in the lettings market".
He added: "New buyer activity has led to consistently higher viewing numbers than we have seen at any point in the last six years."
A shortage of properties and rising mortgage rates has pushed up rents on new tenancies by 11pc in Britain during the past year, according to Hamptons estate agents. In London, rents have jumped by 17pc.
Hamptons expects affordability constraints to slow down rental growth at some point this year.
The proportion of ex-rental homes on the market has decreased from a recent peak of one in seven in 2020, when rental prices were falling in major cities such as London, Zoopla said.
Only a third of these homes have been purchased by an investor or failed to sell, compared with half in previous years.
Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla said: "There are still fewer buyers in the market than a year ago, but sales are still being agreed, with more homes to choose from.
"Sellers shouldn't get carried away by more positive data on the housing market and need to price their homes realistically if they are serious about moving home in 2023."
Nearly a fifth (18pc) of homes listed for sale on Zoopla have had their price cut by more than 5pc.
Average advertised house prices have fallen by 1.3pc in the past six months, but the speed of falls has been slowing as more sales are agreed, Zoopla said.
