Rents going up and up into 2012

Letting agents suggest that a shortage of homes to rent is pushing yields up for landlords. Income from rental property has risen for 21 months in a row, according to the latest buy to let market review for the three months ending October 31 from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. The report went on to say that reduced mortgage borrowing and job uncertainty were the main factors forcing home seekers to turn to renting.

This is good news for those acting as landlords at the moment. Demand for homes to let is outstripping supply, even though more homes came to the market in this quarter than at any other time since April 2009.

RICS spokesman James Scott-Lee said: "Despite resistance to rising rent levels from tenants, in some places, the imbalance between demand and supply for rented property suggests that, for the foreseeable future, landlords will have a good if not increasing return on their investments."

Of course, the downside to this comes with The Chancellor's message of economic doom and gloom. Research claims that a third of private renters are struggling to pay their rent with 32% of people thinking rents for private homes too high - the percentage is more marked for social housing tenants, with 43% baulking at the cost of renting privately.