Will the Cambridge rental demand keep rising?

The Cambridge rental market shows no signs of diminishing with Landlords' continueing to invest.

As local ARLA agents we constantly keep abreast of the rental market, with Aviva research showing that up to a million people may rule themselves out of the first-time buyer market in the coming months due to pressures caused by the cost of living crisis.

With landlord costs increasing over recent years we have also seen a rise in rents but this is still very much localised. However, as demand remains high and prices keep rising in 2023, the opportunity for landlords to generate a high rental yield increases.

High demand for rental properties means landlords benefit from shorter void periods and a greater choice of tenants.

Following the controversial mini-Budget in September, average mortgage costs shot up. This happened against a backdrop of rising inflation and interest rates for much of 2022. Interest rates were always expected to rise in 2022 – the Bank of England ended up increasing the base rate eight times to 3.5 per cent.

Since Rishi Sunak became prime minister, the financial markets have calmed. And although more buy-to-let products have returned to the market, the average cost for fixed deals remains high.

Rising costs are likely to continue to impact landlords who buy or remortgage a property in 2023.

However, it is not all doom and gloom for the BTL market, as with any investment, the outlook is long term not short term. Our continued advice is to invest areas where rental demand is high, which is why in Cambridge we always find good tenants, on average, within a week.