Annual rental growth increased to 1.4% in July but remains below recent levels, according to LonRes. Average rents across prime London are 29.6% above their 2017-2019 average. Its data for July indicated an annual decrease of 3.9% in lets agreed and a 9.7% increase in new instructions, with activity on both measures well below pre-pandemic levels.
The stock of available rental properties is recovering gradually but remains a long way off pre-pandemic levels. For all price points, there were 11.4% more homes on the market at the end of July than a year earlier, but 52.6% fewer than five years ago.
Broken down by price point, availability at lower rental values has started to increase but still has a lot further to go compared to the top end of the prime lettings market. Below £750 per week, availability was 6.2% higher at the end of July than a year earlier, but it remains more than 70% below where it was five years ago.
Above £2,000 per week, the recovery to pre-pandemic levels is almost complete – available stock is within 20% of where it was five years ago.
