{"id":6041626,"date":"2022-03-15T09:00:11","date_gmt":"2022-03-15T09:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.buyassociation.co.uk\/?p=6041626"},"modified":"2023-09-14T16:29:16","modified_gmt":"2023-09-14T15:29:16","slug":"what-void-periods-why-matter-landlords","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-gb\/news\/what-void-periods-why-matter-landlords\/","title":{"rendered":"What are void periods and why do they matter to landlords?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recent news that void periods are shortening across the rental market is welcome news in the sector, with time between tenancies costing landlords much less.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The UK’s private rented sector continues to show its strength, with huge interest from investors as well as tenants snapping up properties. While this is pushing prices up, there’s another benefit for buy-to-let landlords.<\/p>\n

Research published by Rentd<\/a> has shown that void periods – the time that a property sits empty in between tenants – have fallen in England. The average void time is now 20 days, compared with 25 days this time last year.<\/p>\n

The data also demonstrates how the cost of each empty home period has also dropped. On average, landlords are losing around \u00a3599 every time there’s a gap between the tenant leaving and the next one moving in. This is down from \u00a3697 since early 2021.<\/p>\n

This is because landlords are renting their homes out more quickly each time, so the amount of rent lost is falling. At the same time, average rents have risen from \u00a3848 per month to \u00a3911 per month.<\/p>\n

Void periods across the regions<\/h4>\n

While London’s property market<\/a> has somewhat lagged behind in terms of growth in recent years, it is the area that has fared the best in Rentd’s figures on void periods. The average cost for a landlord is now \u00a3984, compared to \u00a31,285 last year.<\/p>\n

In Yorkshire and the Humber, the cost of a rental home sitting empty has fallen by \u00a3219 over the past 12 months. In the north-east, it has dropped by \u00a3173, while in the West Midlands it has fallen by \u00a3165.<\/p>\n

Other parts of the country have seen less significant falls, although they will still make a difference. In the south-east, an empty property costs the landlord \u00a387 less than it did a year ago, while the figure is \u00a362 in the east and \u00a38 in the East Midlands.<\/p>\n

Market revival<\/h4>\n

Ahmed Gamal, Rentd chief executive, says: \u201cThe impact of the pandemic was quite profound in many areas of the rental market and particularly across major cities, where dwindling levels of tenant demand saw rental expectations slashed simply to secure a tenant and reduce the long void periods that were building between agreements.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, with Covid restrictions<\/a> now behind us and a return to the workplace in full swing, we\u2019ve seen tenant demand once again return to the rental market on all fronts and this has started to cultivate signs of a rental market revival across the board.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThe previous surplus of rental stock is now starting to vanish and as a result rental values are climbing from the pandemic depths to which they had previously slumped.”<\/p>\n

Make tenants want to stay<\/h4>\n

As a landlord or property investor, it is in your best interests to keep your tenants in your property for as long as possible, in most cases. While so-called \u201crogue landlords\u201d attempt to cut corners to try to maximise profits, it goes without saying that this is a very poor business model.<\/p>\n

Clearly there is only so much influence you can have on your tenants\u2019 behaviour. But there are steps you can take to reduce your risk of void periods.<\/p>\n