Advertised rents at report highs, however some landlords now being pressured to scale back asking costs, Rightmove says | EUROtoday

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Average marketed rents have hit a brand new report excessive, however there are indicators that landlords are having to scale back costs to fulfill what tenants are in a position to afford.

The common month-to-month hire throughout Britain, excluding London, that was being requested for on the property market within the first quarter of 2024, was £1,291, Rightmove discovered.

This was 8.5 per cent larger than a yr earlier, which was decrease than the annual rise of 9.2 per cent recorded within the fourth quarter of 2023.

The common marketed hire in London additionally hit a contemporary excessive within the first quarter of 2024, however, at £2,633 per 30 days, it was simply £2 larger than the typical asking hire within the fourth quarter of 2023.

London asking rents have been 5.3 per cent larger within the first quarter of 2024 than a yr earlier, slowing from a 6.1 per cent annual rise within the fourth quarter of 2023.

The Independent has beforehand reported that thousands and thousands of Britons are combating the price of residing and record-breaking hire worth will increase.

Although the steadiness of provide and demand is slowly bettering from its peak, Rightmove estimates that almost 50,000 rental properties would nonetheless be wanted to go again to the pre-pandemic degree of rental provide.

The variety of obtainable rental properties is 11 per cent larger than final yr, however 26 per cent under 2019 ranges, the web site stated. It added that, whereas the variety of tenants on the lookout for a house to hire is decrease than a yr in the past, it’s nonetheless larger than in 2019.

Letting brokers are fielding a mean of 13 inquiries per rental property, Rightmove stated.

While that is down from 19 at the moment final yr, it’s nonetheless almost triple the typical of 5 in March 2019.

Rightmove additionally pointed to indicators that tenant affordability is being examined, with reductions in rental costs at a five-year excessive for this time of yr.

The proportion of rental properties with a discount in worth stands at 22%, up from 16% a yr earlier, and the best at the moment of yr since 2019, when the proportion was 23%, Rightmove stated.

Asking rents for the most important properties, together with four-bedroom indifferent homes and properties with 5 bedrooms or extra, are the most certainly to be lowered, it added.

A 3rd, 30 per cent, of top-of-the-ladder properties presently see a discount in worth, a brand new report for this time of yr in Rightmove’s information going again to 2012.

Rightmove’s director of property science, Tim Bannister, stated: “The rental market is no longer at peak boiling point but it remains at a very hot simmer.

“Looking at data across the whole market, we can see some slow improvements for tenants with more choice, and competition with other tenants slowly starting to ease. However, tenants may not feel the benefit of some of these improvements in their local market, as the balance between supply and demand remains so far from pre-pandemic levels.

“The fact that, even with some improvements to the level of supply, we are still nearly 50,000 properties behind the pre-pandemic market, is a stark reminder that the industry needs more good quality rental homes.”

Simon Thompson, group lettings director at Miles & Barr in Kent, stated: “I think it is fair to say that price growth has eased; however the pace of new supply coming on to the market is also starting to slow, probably due to a combination of the relatively low numbers of new landlords coming into the market, and a few landlords looking to sell.

“There has been an increased number of price reductions, but this is mainly happening at the top end of the market, with smaller homes still in high demand.”

Additional reporting by PA