2021 was viewed by many as a fresh start – a chance to move on from the myriad difficulties of 2020. Yet January brought more of the same almost immediately, with school closures and the strict implementation of lockdown 3.0. There’s been plenty of speculation about what this could mean for the UK’s property sales over the coming year, but what about the private rented sector?

UK rental guarantor service Housing Hand works with landlords and tenants across the UK, providing the company with plenty of insights into the difficulties that the sector is facing. According to Group Managing Director Jeremy Robinson, 2021 could be a bumpy year for the rental market.

And then there’s Brexit. COVID-related travel restrictions have largely eclipsed Brexit-related issues so far. However, the impact of changes to flows of workers and students into the UK from Europe will be increasingly felt over the course of 2021, according to Housing Hand’s Terry Mason.

COVID comes into play as well for the student private rental market. Should universities deliver courses virtually rather than in-person come the start of the new academic year in September, there’s likely to be a significant impact on those who usually rent properties to students.

Thankfully, the news isn’t all doom and gloom. Rural areas and the Home Counties have enjoyed a surge in rental demand as tenants move out of London and other major cities and Housing Hand anticipates this trend continuing in 2021, as renters continue to drift out of urban areas as their current tenancies expire.