High demand and short supply for rented housing

Emma Foreman is lettings director at Complete Estate Agents in Teignmouth

High demand and short supply for rental housing in Devon are expected to continue, according to people in the industry.

The Renters Rights Act - a huge shake-up of the rental market - became law on Monday.

The legislation is designed to level the playing field between landlords and tenants as people renting say it has become prohibitively expensive and very difficult to find rental properties.

A landlord in Teignmouth said he believed the conditions for property owners would prompt more landlords to sell up - further reducing the number of rental properties on the market.

Penny Lloyd said it was more and more difficult to find somewhere to rent in places like Teignmouth

Penny Lloyd has been renting in Teignmouth on the south coast of Devon for more than ten years and is looking to move but finding it very difficult to get a property.

Ms Lloyd, who is also a Liberal Democrat member of Teignmouth Town Council, said prices were "going up all the time".

She said: "You can't get a one-bedroom flat for less than £750 a month, plus you've got your bills, your council tax.

"You're looking at a huge amount of demand for each property - quite often if you look at some of the websites there are properties on there that are advertised as available when actually they went perhaps months ago."

Teignmouth is a seaside destination with a population of about 15,000

There is "very high demand and very short supply" in the rental market in Teignmouth according to Emma Foreman, lettings director at Complete Estate Agents.

She said: "If we put a property on the market we're generally inundated with enquiries and phone calls straight away.

"We're not seeing it getting any better - we're seeing more limited stock as we go towards the end of this year."

Ms Foreman said there was a "fear of the unknown" among landlords and said she had seen increased numbers selling up.

One of the central policies of the Renters Rights Act is the abolition of Section 21 "no-fault" evictions.

Properties will be rented on a rolling basis, rather than fixed 12 or 24-month contracts and tenants who want to leave can give two months' notice.

The government says it will ensure landlords will be able to recover their properties "when reasonable" - in cases of damage, anti-social behaviour or rent arrears of three months or more.

Clive Wetton runs the Teignmouth Bake House cafe and lets out flats above

Clive Wetton runs the Teignmouth Bake House in the centre of the town and lets out properties above the cafe.

He believes small-scale landlords play an important role in communities and need to be encouraged.

He said: "I think a lot of us will probably give up - if you didn't have to rent a property you wouldn't bother.

"Unfortunately you'll see a lot of properties for sale at the moment which are ex-rental because people know they can sell these on now, put the money somewhere else and not have any of the aggravation or hassle."

Housing secretary Steve Reed said the Renters Rights Act was "the biggest leap forward in renters' rights in a generation" and the government was "finally ending the injustice overseen by previous governments that has left millions living in fear of losing their homes".

The government said good landlords "have nothing to fear" from the reforms and its plans "make sure that landlords have the confidence and support they need to continue to invest and operate in the sector".