Belvoir's Chief Executive has predicted that private residential lettings will continue to grow throughout 2010. Over the last 18 months the private rental sector grew steadily and Belvoir's Chief Executive Mike Goddard (pictured) believes this will continue.

Mike Goddard said: "The boom in residential lettings will continue in 2010 and, with rental values expected to increase steadily as the year goes on, I believe it's never been a better time to be either a landlord or indeed a tenant."

In addition to predicting steady growth in private rental during 2010 Mike also believes the year ahead will see people more willing to rent as they become increasingly mobile looking for jobs; the government plans to license all letting agents would be good for tenants and something that Belvoir would welcome; city centre building schemes that were shelved or put on hold during the recession will come back; a continued growth for the rural rental market as more people consider a move to the country for lifestyle reasons; and residential sales will continue to struggle for the foreseeable future.

2010 will also see a general election take place in the UK. Mike added: "All three main parties appear to appreciate the importance of a thriving private rental sector. However, any future Government needs to genuinely address the issue of personal and Government debt and I think we all need to return to the good old fashioned values of only spending what we can afford. For too long house price inflation and profligate lending has created a false economy with an unrealistic emphasis on home ownership. Individuals have eagerly tapped into the equity in their homes to boost overall consumer spending. The situation has proved untenable in the long term and one of the main reasons why we, and other countries, have fallen into recession."

According to Belvoir the private rental sector has not suffered as other businesses during the recession. "It's all good news for the private rental sector. We and our network of offices across the UK are looking forward to advising both our established clients and the new wave of tenants and landlords as we start to see the clouds of recession slowly lifting throughout 2010."

Published: 17 February 2010

Back to news