Rental demand rises across London

UK transactional rental platform, Rentd, revealed that the London rental market is on the rise. The research shows a quarterly increase in rental demand in Q1.

The most popular areas that form the London rental market based on the proportion of total rental stock available on the market that has already been purchased by tenants, and how this demand has changed over time were analysed. 

Popular and unpopular areas to rent

As tenants return to the capital in 2022, some locations continue to garner more interest than others.

During the first quarter of this year, 60% of all rental properties have already been purchased. Bexley, Waltham Forest, and Bromley have proved popular as they made the top of the list. While demand reached 56% across Havering and 55% in Sutton. 

With demand at just 15%, Kensington and Chelsea, and Westminster are currently the least in-demand areas of the London rental market.

Tenant demand in London

According to the UK transactional rental platform, London rental demand is at 42%. This equates to a 4% growth compared to the previous quarter.

With a 16% increase during the first three months of the year, Waltham Forest has seen the largest increase in tenant demand. This is closely followed by Redbridge (+12%), Barking and Dagenham (+11%), Havering (+11%), and Hounslow (+11%) 

Rental demand dropped since the end of last year, across eight boroughs. Merton (-12%) has seen the largest quarterly decline, with Tower Hamlets (-4%), Islington (-3%), Southwark (-2%) Kensington and Chelsea (-2%), Kingston (-2%), Westminster (-1%) and Camden (-1%) also seeing a decrease in tenant demand.

Founder and chief executive officer of Rentd, Ahmed Gamal, concludes: “The London rental market has been particularly hard hit during the pandemic and with a lack of both foreign and professional tenant demand, landlords have had to slash their rental price expectations simply to avoid long void periods with no income at all.” 

“This has led to surges in demand over the last year as tenants have looked to take advantage of these much lower rental values but the London rental landscape has been unsettled, to say the least.”

“However, this year has brought a rejuvenated level of certainty to the market, spurred by a return to the workplace and an uplift in rental demand for London properties. As a result, we’re seeing rental values return, and exceed, pre-pandemic levels in many parts of the market and this will be very welcome news for the capital’s landlords.”