Lettings in Telford boom by a third, property expert reveals

Stagnating wages and the rising cost of living are making it difficult to secure the tens of thousands of pounds needed for a deposit to purchase, Gary Preston, owner of Annabel Church Lettings said.

While worries over money and job security have also led to an increasing number of people in Telford turning to the letting market, Aidan Forth, co-owner added.

Mr Preston, whose company is based on Halesfield said: "We have seen a huge change in the housing market as the number of homes we are renting out has boomed – figures show the number of properties rented out by our company in the last 12 months has gone up 30 per cent.

“Many of these properties have come on to our books and been rented out again all within 48-hours which just shows how fast the turnaround needs to be at the moment due to the demand.”

Mr Forth added: “One of the things that is stopping people buying is that much larger deposits are now needed to secure their new home than the market has been used to over the last seven years or so.

"Now instead of needing a five per cent deposit or less people are being asked to pay 10 per cent as down-payment for a property.

"People are really finding it difficult and struggling in today's economy to find the money.

“We are finding another factor putting off potential house buyers is job security. With people more at risk of losing their jobs they do not want to be signed up to a 25-year mortgage with the pressure of having to find large monthly payments."

Due to its success, Annabel Church Lettings has now extended its Christmas offer of a free tenant find service to help landlords through to the end of January. This will continue to assist landlords, especially those who find they have empty properties at this time of year.

In addition, a new on-going management service that reduces traditional costs by 60 per cent to just four per cent has also been launched.