The lack of appetite for short-term rentals among tenants suggests the Renters’ Rights Bill is seeking to solve a problem that doesn't exist, new research reveals, while swinging the balance of power entirely towards renters.

Lender FCC Paragon says its research shows that while the Government's reforms aim to empower tenants by ending Assured Shorthold Tenancies and converting them to a single type of periodic tenancy, it will also remove the flexibility of tenure that both landlords and tenants often seek.

The data analysis of short-term rental properties being marketed to let (typically corporate rentals, student rentals and temporary accommodation of between one and six months - but excluding holiday lets) found that just 10% on the market have had managed to secure a tenant compared to more than a quarter of traditional long-term rental properties.

"Long-term agreements are what tenants appear to want.

This suggests that while the Bill claims to put power into tenants’ hands by making it impossible for landlords to insist on long-term agreements, long-term agreements are what tenants appear to want.

The appetite for short lets gets even weaker on a regional level, says FCC Paragon, which reveals that in London, demand sits at just 7% - 14% lower than demand for long-term agreements (21%). Short-term demand in the North East is 7%, while it’s also particularly weak in Scotland (8%), and Wales (11%).

Tenant power

Managing director Bekki Leaves (pictured) says by installing assured periodic tenancies as the new norm, the Bill eliminates a landlord’s chances of securing the guarantees of a long-term agreement and places power firmly in the hands of the tenant.

“On one hand we have landlords completely unable to end contracts within the first 12 months, while on the other, tenants are free to leave at any time by providing a short notice period,” she adds.

“Rather than create fair equilibrium, this proposal seems to shift the balance entirely in favour of the tenant, but the lack of appetite among tenants for short-term rentals actually suggests that the Renters’ Rights Bill won’t make an awful lot of difference.”