Rents are still rising rapidly in prime areas of London thanks to a shortage of homes available to rent and high demand from tenants.
That’s the view of London property data consultancy LonRes, whose managing director Anthony Payne comments: “The shortage of homes to rent is limiting activity in the market with new lets well below normal levels.”
Payne says the prime London rental market in 2022 was characterised by a lack of homes available to rent and rapidly rising rents.
There was still a severe lack of stock available to rent amid a rebound in demand as people returned to live, work, and study in London, post-pandemic. This lack of homes has, in turn, led to a fall in the number of new lets in the market.
LonRes says there are several possible reasons for the decline in activity – some suggesting a short-term effect and others more long-term. These include a temporary rebound from the pandemic, landlords selling their properties, and a shift to longer-term tenancies.
The lack of homes to rent and strong tenant demand helped increase prime London rents to new record highs in 2022, with rents ending the year 13.7 per cent higher and 19.8 per cent higher than the pre-pandemic average.
Payne concludes: “A shortage of stock, but no shortage of tenants continues to put pressure on rents taking them to new highs. At the end of 2022 prime London rents stood 13.7 per cent higher than they had been a year earlier.”
Full Article: https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2023/1/prime-london-market-still-dominated-by-supply-shortage-and-high-demand