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London rental property pipeline drops by 3.5% as landlords exit

Dramatic drop in supply created by "onerous" tax burden and stagnating London house prices, claims Rightmove. But will it spread outside the capital?

Nigel Lewis

London rental

Government rental market policies are beginning to have a dramatic effect in London where the number of properties available to let has reduced by 3.5% year-on-year, it has been revealed.

The figures are released this morning by Rightmove, which says this contraction in the rental property pipeline is likely to be a result of more landlords exiting the market and fewer enlarging their portfolios.

This trend, the portal claims, is being driven by reduced landlord returns including “little or no growth in capital appreciation” and higher tax bills.

London rental market

The reduced number of properties available to rent in London has also begun to push up rents for new tenancies.

These are rising by 3.4% a year, the highest rate for three years and above the national figures of 2.4%. Restricted supply in London has also pushed up rents, which have now reached an eye-watering average of £2,000 a month per property, two and a half times the national average.

Homes in the capital are also beginning to rent faster, Rightmove’s Rental Trends Tracker claims, reducing on average from 44 days to 40, although this is still substantially more than the national average of 36 days.

london rental miles shipside“After a few years of more plentiful supply in the London market we’ve now reached a point again where competition among tenants for a great rental home can be very high in the most popular rental areas of the capital,” says Rightmove’s Housing Market Analyst Miles Shipside (left).

“Outside London there looks to be more choice for tenants, but those looking to rent in the South West and Yorkshire and the Humber should note that properties are moving faster than this time last year so they may need to move more quickly to secure a good quality home,” says Shipside.

 

July 26, 2018

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