Private rents rise to record levels but growth continues to slow – London Wallet

National average asking rents outside London have increased again to reach a new record of £1,190 per calendar month (pcm), according to new data from Rightmove.

Average asking rents outside of London for new tenants have now risen for 13 consecutive quarters, but the pace of rent growth continues to slow and has now eased for three quarters in a row.

Average asking rents in London have now surpassed £2,500 for the first time to reach new record. Supply is still very constrained in the capital, but again, there are emerging signs of improvement this year.

Supply remains very constrained in the rental market, however it is showing slow signs of improvement this year.

The number of available properties is currently 6% higher than the near-record low levels of this time last year, while across the opening three months of this year, the number of available rental properties is up by 8%.

However, supply is still historically very low, with the number of available rental properties now 46% below 2019’s level.

The gap between supply and demand is exacerbated by the number of tenants looking to move continuing to exceed even last year’s frenetic level.

The number of tenants enquiring to move is now 4% higher than this time last year, and 48% higher than 2019.

Terraced Houses have the biggest gap between supply and demand, with more than four times as many tenants enquiring as there are properties of this type available to rent, while flats are currently finding a tenant the quickest.

Rightmove’s Tim Bannister said: “We have seen some early signs of improvement on squeezed supply levels this year, though with no significant influx of new properties becoming available to rent currently on the horizon, the mismatch is set to continue for some time.

“Many agents are having to manage a very high volume of tenant enquiries for every property that they let in the current market. Properties in popular areas within an affordable asking rent range of that local area are likely to be snapped up almost immediately, and on average homes are finding a tenant much more quickly than this time in 2019.

“Although there are some early signs that the gap between supply and demand is starting to narrow a little, it will still feel very competitive for tenants trying to secure a home.”

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