Money editor, Wales News
Brian JenkinsA man who works two jobs said the insecurity of renting means he cannot “feel too comfortable” in his own home.
Brian Jenkins, a supply teacher and a bar supervisor, had to leave the flat he lived in for 12 years after his landlord said he was selling up.
But Mr Jenkins, from Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, said the flat ended up back on the rental market for £350 a month more than he had been paying.
Private sector rents in Wales rose by 8.2% in the year to June, according to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) while fresh data from Principality Building Society suggests house prices remain stable amid “surging” sales.
Average private rent in Wales rose to £804 per month in June, though increases are well past their record peak of 9.9% in the year to November 2023, according to the Price Index of Private Rents.
Mr Jenkins, 56, said having to leave the home his son grew up in left him with the “niggling thought” that he did not want to “feel too comfortable, just in case” it happened again.
When he was looking for a new place in 2022 he had to choose carefully because “they were asking crazy money for some of the properties which I just wasn’t in a position to be able to afford.”
Last year the rent on his house increased from £550 to £600 a month, which he believed was “fair”, but said it could be a struggle during school holidays when his supply work dries up.
Stephen Davison, 61, from Llandudno, Conwy county, lost his job during the pandemic and has to use his savings to pay his bills.
His rent has gone up £100 a month which, in addition to repeated council tax in recent years, has made paying his bills more of a struggle.
He said: “You go from having made some plans for the future to having everything thrown up in the air. I don’t know where I will be if I can’t get another job.
“My savings are going down, my prospects of getting a job are going down and you feel insecure.”
Estate agent Douglas Haig, a director of the National Residential Landlords Association, said he expected rent increases in Wales to taper down as a number of cost increases for landlords “have started to bed in now”.
He added: “It gets to a point where there is a there’s a ceiling on what the general market can afford. And I think we’re getting to that point.”
The average house price was £238,098, an increase of 0.7% on the year, according to Principality’s Wales House Price Index for April to June, while the number of sales rose 13%.
Nine regions saw an increase in average property prices, while 13 had a drop.
Iain Mansfield, Principality’s chief financial officer, said affordability challenges for first-time buyers were “starting to ease” after Bank of England interest rates cuts made mortgage rates cheaper.
Although some people are stuck renting, a sustained increase in sales over the past 15 months shows it is getting more affordable for others to get on the property ladder, he added.
“A stable housing market, where prices aren’t increasing at huge percentage points… means the accessibility for buyers to come into the market is more straight forward.”
Former police officer Paula Spence moved into her new family home in Cwmbran, Torfaen, two weeks ago.
She and husband Graham previously downsized, but when their three children and grandchildren came back to live with them, they needed somewhere bigger.
Mrs Spence said they found a buyer for their house within two days but it was “a struggle” to find the right place to buy.
“There were a few things out there but in a higher bracket than we wanted to pay, so we felt really lucky that we got this,” she said.
“The family are happy and we’ve all got our own space, so it’s all good.”
