HMO landlords are increasingly advertising rooms to rent way in advance of tenants moving out, leading to many people who need accommodation urgently within shared houses struggling to find somewhere to live at short notice.
New data shows that just 11% of listings are available ‘for immediate occupancy’ in some cities, while across the UK just 58% of rooms are advertised as being available for immediate move-in, and a significant 27% won’t be available for at least one to three months.
HMO management platform COHO, which has conducted the analysis, says this is forcing many tenants to plan well in advance for moving house or relocating to a new city, but making quick moves increasingly difficult.
Its analysis of more than 13,000 shared living listings across Britain found great regional variation.
In Brighton, tenants who urgently need accommodation face a particularly tough challenge as only 11% of listings are available to move in right away and just 32% are available in a month’s time.
Just 28% of shared living opportunities in Nottingham are immediately available, while 40% are listed with a waiting period of at least one to three months. Meanwhile, immediate availability also accounts for less than half of current listings in Newcastle (46%) and Bristol (49%).
Conversely, 85% of listings in Birmingham are available to move into straight away, as are 74% of shared houses in Sheffield, and 72% in Glasgow.
COHO founder and CEO, Vann Vogstad (pictured), says trying to find a home in the right area can be tricky enough, but finding one where availability aligns with a tenant’s needs can be a further challenge.
“We will always recommend that people give themselves a decent amount of time to find the right home for their next move but also appreciate that this luxury isn’t always possible when circumstances change unexpectedly or other life factors demand an immediate relocation,” adds Vogstad.
Tags:
Comments