Room rents and the value of HMO advice

When looking at rents and yield, we often focus on the entire property but with a growing student population and more young professionals heading back to their offices and an urban life, a sizeable proportion of these are living as sharers in an HMO.

Alongside record levels of rising rents across the UK, individual accommodation in shared housing is also hitting new heights. The latest market analysis from SpareRoom demonstrated that 41 out of the 50 largest towns and cities in the country have seen room rents reach a record-breaking high in Q1 2022. This included cities such as London, Manchester and Liverpool, with rents of £794, £531 and £415 respectively. In addition to record-breaking rents, the cost of living continues to be on the up and energy prices are set to increase again in the autumn. As a substantial proportion of flatsharers have bills included in their rents, this could well be just the start.

When considering the cheapest areas to rent in the UK, Darlington came in at £380, followed by Bootle (£383) and Bradford (£384). Conversely, the most expensive rents outside the capital were found in Twickenham (£714), Kingston Upon Thames (£712) and Barnet (£681). Looking at the UK’s top 50 towns and cities, Sunderland saw the biggest increase in room rents, up 19%, followed by Belfast (16%) and Glasgow (14%).

HMOs remain an interesting proposition for landlords in light of higher yields but also higher costs. There are also a number of other key considerations for landlords to take into account for this property type – both positive and negative. When it comes to financing, this also tends to be a little more complex but competitively priced options continue to emerge. As many of these are only available through intermediary channels, this is a factor which adds further value to the intermediary advice process.