POTENTIAL home-owners put off buying by the credit crunch are fuelling a huge increase in property rentals, Burton and South Derbyshire estate and letting agents say.
While house sales have slumped amidst the worst recession in a generation, companies are reporting increases in lettings of up to 100 per cent compared to last year.
Meanwhile, some estate agents report a rise in house sales since Christmas, sparking hopes that green shoots of recovery could be set to penetrate the economic gloom.
Simon Smith, director of Nicholas J Humphreys, based in High Street, Burton, says the company has experienced wildly contrasting fortunes in its sales and lettings divisions in the past year. He said: "The sales side of our business is very, very quiet and even when we sell a property we are seeing sales fall through due to the difficulties people are having getting a mortgage.
"We are about 50 per cent down on sales compared to last year, but luckily our rental business is absolutely flying at the moment - up by around 100 per cent on last year.
"We are seeing that first time buyers are just not able to get lending for a mortgage so they are renting instead."
A similar story is told by Phil Sandbach, a partner in John German, which has branches in Burton and Ashby.
He said: "We are about 20 per cent up on last year for lettings and there have been many occasions where vendors not able to sell their home have turned to renting it out instead.
"Our sales are down by about 40 per cent on last year, but we have definitely been busier since Christmas, with a number of new applicants coming forward leading to sales."
Bev Murray, of Scargill Mann, which has branches in Burton, Tutbury and Willington, said the company had also seen an increase in house sales in the new year, while business in its lettings department was 'manic'.
The encouraging trend will come as good news to an industry which has experienced a cataclysmic 12 months. Last year, Anderson Dixon, Ayrton Lewis, Everington and Ruddle and Burchell Edwards all closed offices in Burton while Ashley Adams and David Bramall shut branches in both Burton and Swadlincote.
While estate agents dealing only in sales have felt the bite of the credit crunch more than most, it is a different story for firms specialising in lettings, such as Acquire properties, of Station Street, Burton.
The company's owner, Kushi Bachada, told The Mail: "It's really gone mad recently and we've taken on three sites from builders who built new developments but aren't able to sell them so have decided to rent them out instead.
"We have seen a considerable increase ourselves, and for some agents, trade has probably doubled over the past year."