Many of those looking to rent a flat or house in the UK opt to begin their search online.  Even with the fall in UK house prices due to the recent credit crunch the UK is still pricing the number of first time buyers out of the property marketplace.

It’s not only first time UK buyers who are struggling to find the high deposits being asked for by mortgage companies.  Those people who are looking to make the move up the UK property ladder may need to find additional funds to cover any reduced equity for a deposit on their next property.  Due to the buoyant UK rental market many letting agents are witnessing the increasing demand with more property available to rent now appearing on their books. Investors who buy property to rent out in the UK continue to use specialist letting agents. Not only are the UK property portfolios of letting agents growing; so is the demand to rent property in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Property management on behalf of UK investors is another add on that is seen as a valuable offering by the agents.

The jury is still out as to whether 2010 will see a resurgence in demand to purchase UK buy to let property. UK residential property landlords who have the time to vet potential tenants should also consider the option of bypassing letting agents. There are Free Property Listing services in the UK that are bridging the gap amid private property landlords and tenants.  It’s a simple process to set up your own property adverts. If you have UK residential property to rent then the option of using an online free property listing service could potentially save you money in tenant finder fees.

Do the recent upbeat figures reported by Persimmon and more recently Bovis mean that the UK housing market sector is starting to turn the corner?

Bovis believe that their pretax profit will meet their expectations.  Persimmon has also managed to reduce its debt during 2009 and also saw more completions on property during the latter half of the year.  The Property Analysts are finding it hard to predict what 2010 will bring for UK house prices, some predicting a modest increase whilst others think it will dip slightly.  It’s a hard one to call.  There are a lot of dependencies.  To get the market going again there needs to be more flexibility in the mortgage market to allow access to more deals.  Most people wanting to buy UK property now understand they require a larger deposit, however it is still not putting them off buying.  Not only this, but there are other factors namely unemployment.  If it rises too much then it could force prices downwards. 

However, probably the biggest unknown will be the winner of the 2010 UK General Election.  Each party have their own ideas to keep the momentum not only in the overall UK economy, but also specific housing market policies.  It will be interesting to see whether Home Information Packs (HIPs), seen by some commentators as one of the causes of a stagnant market, remain in place by the end of 2010.