IN BRIEF (Page 16)

UK rentals fall

Rents for UK homes fell for the first time in five-and-a-half years as the worst housing slump since the 1990s caused a record increase in properties put on the rental market, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said.

Real estate brokers reporting that rents on their properties fell outnumbered those who said they rose by 12 points in the three months ended Oct 31. Those reporting an increase in the number of rental listings was 56 percentage points higher than those reporting a drop, according to the survey released yesterday by the London-based professional organization.