Leicestershire lettings agent celebrates record month

Harrison Murray’s Leicester-based lettings service has celebrated its best business month on record – echoing the national trend that suggests the lettings market remains buoyant.

According to the latest RICS residential lettings survey, 26 per cent more chartered surveyors reported a rise in demand for property than a fall.

Tenant demand also increased across all regions, most notably in London and the East of England.

The survey also revealed that difficulty in securing finance and lender deposit demands are leading to higher numbers of homehunters looking to rent rather than buy.

In Leicestershire, Harrison Murray falls in line with the national trend, with the service achieving its best ever month across the county - particularly among people using rented accommodation as a stepping stone to buying a property of their own.

Demands on the service have been so great, that extra staff have joined the Leicester-based team and the service restructured over the past few months.

The lettings team of the independent estate agents and valuers says the range of properties is also growing daily, as is the number of landlords – which in turn is boosting the number of new tenants.

Harrison Murray group lettings manager David Thorpe said: “We’re finding that the lettings market is going from strength to strength – not only in Leicestershire, but also in neighbouring Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire where we are expanding the service.

“People move into rented accommodation for a variety of reasons. Financial constraints are one of the main reasons, with people using rented property as a stepping stone to buying their own home.

“We are delighted to say that some of those tenants then progress to our residential sales market or go on to buy the accommodation they are renting.”

Harrison Murray is a member of the Association of Residential Lettings Agents (ARLA) and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).