A leading Cumbrian estate agent has warned of a ‘continuing shortage’ of properties to let across the county.

Residential lettings manager for H&H Land and Estates, Pauline Carrera-Silva, has said that a ‘perfect storm of spiralling price levels’ has been created with more people forced to rent rather than buy.

House prices across the Cumberland council area dropped by 1 per cent in September according to the latest figures but that follows a period of prices rising steadily and coupled with a sharp rise in mortgage rates, many people have been put off from buying properties.

“Overall, in Cumbria, the lettings market continues to go from strength to strength with strong demand for all types of rental properties,” said Pauline.

“However, in all areas of the region there is a continuing shortage of properties driving increasing competition amongst would-be tenants, and particularly those seeking traditional 3-bedroom family homes with garage.”

In Carlisle, enquiries have ‘continued’ to rise and rents have hit an ‘all-time high’ in Cockermouth.

There has been a “significant increase” in properties becoming available in Appleby and Warcop and rents for the average property in Penrith itself have increased by a minimum of £75pcm, with demand highest for those three-bedroom family homes.

“At first glance, the UK rental market seems to favour landlords strongly. Demand is outstripping supply and competition is leading some tenants to offer well over market rates,” said Pauline.

“Yet with rising interest rates translating to higher mortgage payments, and the prospect of new legislation on the horizon, many landlords are looking to sell up and avoid the growing risk of tenant arrears caused by the cost-of-living crisis.

“Any reduction in an already under-supplied market will further fuel competition among renters, which is already so intense that according to recent Rightmove research commissioned by the BBC, there are 20 requests to view each available property.

“Although we find we are receiving almost triple this, with 60/70 enquiries per property, which we narrow down to around 10 viewings per property.

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“A property market in which more people are opting – or forced – to rent rather than buy creates a perfect storm of spiralling price levels.

“Forecasts for the rental market in 2024 suggest that the lack of new rental stock and persistently higher interest rates will lead to rental growth exceeding wage growth, with rental prices across the UK expected to increase by five per cent during the coming year.

“How accurate the figures turn out to be remains to be seen, but there is very little doubt that the trends point to more landlords pulling out of the market, fewer properties available, more demand and competition, and the inevitable pressure on prices to rise as a consequence.”