Rents fell for the first time in five years between July and October as home-movers flooded the rental market with properties that they could not sell.

Gráinne Gilmore, Economics Correspondent, The Times – 18 Nov 2008

According to a new survey, 12 per cent more lettings agents said that rents had fallen rather than risen between August and October. That was a reversal from the previous three months, when nearly a third more agents said that rents were rising, figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) show.

It is the first time since 2003 that the gauge of rental yields has turned negative. James Scott-Lee, of RICS, said: “Many vendors have been forced to become amateur landlords, creating an inevitable downward pressure on rents.”

This came as a report said that more than one in three landlords would be plunged into negative equity by the middle of next year as house prices continue to fall. Full Article