Agents flooded with enquiries as rentals hit new high
Three different sets of research show the ever rising demand for rental homes as prices continue to rise.
Letting agents are currently handling an average of 25 email and phone enquiries from prospective tenants for every property available to rent, according to Rightmove.
This is more than triple the number they were receiving on average at this time in 2019, and is five more than in May of this year.
The number of available properties to rent has dropped by 35% compared to 2019, highlighting the supply and demand imbalance that agents currently have to navigate.
The biggest supply and demand imbalance is for two-bedroom semi-detached houses, with smaller properties to let under more supply and demand pressure than larger properties.
Records broken
Meanwhile, the Goodlord rental index shows that the average cost of rent in London in September barely moved from the August average, at £1,346 per property.
However, it was a different picture in Greater London and the South East, with both regions seeing cost of rent records broken in September.
Renters in London are now paying £2,275 per property – an increase of 6% month-on-month, and the first time the index has recorded an average cost above a £2,200 threshold for the capital.
It was a similar story in the South East, where rental costs breached the £1,500 barrier for the first time. Rents in the region are now £1,524 on average – a 2% rise on August’s figures.
Overall, the cost of rent is now 8% higher than the same time last year.
41% increase
Zero Deposit, the alternative rental deposits platform, says tenants in Bristol are paying 41% more for a rental property than they did just five years ago.
Across England as a whole, rents have risen by 13.7% in the past five years, bringing the average cost of renting to £960 per month.
‘No end to the madness’ as rents top old record
Some of this imbalance is produced by the property license, as in Bristol, Lancaster, Nottingham, Wirral, and several London boroughs, to mention only a few.
Unlicensed properties can only be rented to couples of families, which creates an artificial scarcity of rooms compared to the situation without license.
Applying for the license can free existing capacity, increasing the revenue to landlords and reducing overall pressure on rents, as explained in my article ww.renthappily.co.uk/news/how-to-increase-profits-and-reduce-rents
25 emails per property being the average, what this means for us is that certain properties are generating 100 enquiries. They are ridiculous numbers, they are a hurricane which is only going to get worse. Didn’t Suella Braverman use that expression the other day when referring to unprecedented immigration levels, connect the dots on that one too if you like.
Its only going to get worse……………
Our politicians are clueless.