There have been quite a few doom and gloom merchants over the years when it comes to the future of the buy-to-let sector. Many of these have been largely dispelled by a private rented sector which continues to grow in size, largely due to the extent of ongoing demand and in the wake of a shortage of quality rental homes across much of the UK.

However, with ongoing fiscal pressure being exerted on landlords and mortgage rates much higher than experienced over the past few years, this has led to further questions being asked over landlords’ appetites to add to their portfolios.

With the cost-of-living crisis hitting people hard in the pocket over the winter period and beyond, energy efficiency is fast becoming a priority for a growing number of tenants.

This trend was highlighted in new research from Shawbrook which revealed that 58% of private renters would be less likely to look at a rental property if they were aware that it had an EPC rating of D or below.

As part of its Confronting the EPC Challenge report, the study found that young private renters are particularly engaged on energy efficiency, with 72% of renters aged 18–34 saying they always check the EPC rating of a property before making any decisions. This is compared to 52% of those aged over 55 years old.

From all of us here at Dynamo, we’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for your ongoing support over the course of 2022.

It’s been something of a rollercoaster year with many challenges along the way. However, greater market stability has emerged and after conversations with many lenders, we’ve been encouraged by a host of exciting plans which are already in place for Q1 2023 and beyond.

With pricing trending in the right direction, you can be sure of some increased competition across the BTL sector and plenty of innovation along the way, meaning the BTL market is ready to hit the ground running in 2023.

Whilst we are gearing up for a hectic start, we hope that you get the opportunity to take a break, recharge those batteries and enjoy the festive period. So, here’s to a very Merry Christmas and a healthy, prosperous New Year.

Overwhelmed and under-stocked, the student rental market is on the verge of reaching breaking point. This strong statement emerged in research from property developer Stripe Property Group which revealed that there are now three students for every student bed available.

According to the study, there are now 2,180,419 full-time university students across the UK, 8% more than there were prior to the pandemic (2019/20). At the same time, there are just 697,734 student beds available to them and while this has been steadily increasing, the number of beds has grown by just 6% when compared to pre-pandemic levels.

As a result, there are now 3.1 students for every one bed available to them, up from 3 students for every one bed in 2019/20. That’s a current shortfall of almost 1.5m student beds to meet the demand required across purpose-built student accommodation.