Rents, viewings and activity all cool in London lettings market
Almost all of the key metrics used by letting agencies to measure market activity have weakened in recent months, says Hello Neighbour.
The rental market in the Capital continues to cool with year-on-year growth at its lowest level compared to the last 12 months, latest data from lettings platform Hello Neighbour reveals.
Although rents in May within London are up from last month they are 1% down compared to the previous three months, with an average rental in May of £2,155. There has been an increase across every bedroom size.
FEWER REQUESTS
Richard Jenkins, Chief Executive and Co-Founder of Hello Neighbour, says: “We have seen 52 viewing requests per property in May, down from 62 in April, following a similar trend from last year of a quieter May before the summer months. However, there are 16% fewer requests in May 2024 compared to May 2023.
“We have seen year-on-year growth at its lowest level compared to the previous 12 months, with an increase of only 1% in May.”
The data also reveals that there has been a 32% drop in the number of landlords pricing above market rates in the last 12 months.
HIGHER DEMAND
Jenkins adds: “We continue to see higher demand for outer London properties in May, with 84 viewing requests compared to 69 for Inner London.
“Barking and Dagenham takes the top spot for the highest number of viewing requests over the past three months, with 192 requests per property on average.”
But pointing to Zoopla’s latest House Price Index, Jenkins says that the same affordability and mortgage pressures that are driving rents to flatten in London (only up 5.1% in Zoopla’s March rental market report) are impacting the sales market, with house prices in London and the South East dropping 0.5% and increasing in more affordable regions.
He adds: “Zoopla states that first-time buyers are motivated to buy because they are looking to escape the rapid growth in rents in the private rented sector.”
