Lineas- Tuesday, Apr 23, 2024
Tenants battling it out over each rental property in London
This summer saw the highest level of rental demand ever recorded in London, while September broke average weekly rent records.
According to lettings market index, an average of 25-30 renters are competing for every new property, with 23,000 new listings recorded this month – the lowest monthly volume of new instructions this year. The number of new listings year-to-date was 38% lower than the same period last year.
The South and East regions had the most competition from would-be tenants with 37 applicants per instruction, while the North region saw the largest monthly increase with 20% more applicants per instruction.
Renters’ average weekly rent was a record-breaking £553 in September, while their budget was £494, just slightly lower than the £500 per week seen in August.
Budget busters?
But budgets were 7% higher compared with the same month last year. We also found that there was a notable rise in the proportion of money that renters were willing to spend to secure a property; in September, they spent 101% of their registered budget, up 3% from August.
Lettings Manager Lee Noor from Lineas Estate Agent says demand has been triggered by huge numbers of new renters looking for properties, particularly as more students physically returned to London post-Covid, corporate relocations resumed at full pace and rising interest rates persuaded some potential buyers to continue renting in the short-term.
He adds: “With over three-quarters of our tenants choosing to renew rather than look for a new property, I don’t expect the pressure of low stock to ease anytime soon.”