Most tenants are against periodic tenancies, one of the changes planned in the Renters’ Rights Bill.
The bill plans to remove fixed term tenancies, where renters are obliged to pay rent during the term regardless of whether their circumstances change.
Periodic tenancies would change this dynamic, and enable tenants to give two months’ notice at any time.
However, the majority (58.5%) of tenants would prefer a fixed-term, renewable tenancy agreement, with just a third (30%) favouring a rolling, open-ended agreement.
Meanwhile only 15% of tenants said they feel ‘trapped’ by a fixed term tenancy, a survey from Vouch has found.
The poll comes from rental tech platforms Goodlord and Vouch.
William Reeve, chief executive of Goodlord, said: “This year’s State of the Lettings Industry report comes at an absolutely critical time.
“There’s a new government, a major piece of rental sector reform is soon to hit the statute books, and we are experiencing the most acute housing crisis in a generation.
“As the initial data shows, this combination of factors is engendering wide-ranging pessimism and concern across the industry, and the imbalance between supply and demand looks set to get worse, not better.”
the sentiment across the PRS is worse than it’s ever been – the result of a growing sense of unease and uncertainty about the future of the rental market.
More than half of letting agents (54%) feel pessimistic about the PRS, the lowest rate in the history of the report.
The sentiment amongst landlords is even worse, with 75% feeling pessimistic about the PRS, and half of those saying they were ‘very pessimistic’. Despite the financial pressures many are facing, tenants were the least pessimistic about the sector of all groups.
Tom Goodlord, managing director at Vouch, said: “This report is a snapshot of an industry handling a huge amount of change and pressure. As the full survey results will show, the PRS is feeling the weight of this mounting set of challenges. There are opportunities available to address them, but time is of the essence.”