Student surge gives London agency a late summer boost

JLL says its London offices saw increased demand in the third quarter of the year, underpinned by the student sector.

Lonres data says rental transactions across Prime London were up 48 per cent in the third quarter compared to the second.

“In particular, students underpinned the market this summer - we have seen year on year growth in High Net Worth students coming in, both UK and overseas. They tend to rent one or two-bedroom flats and have budgets of around £500 to £1,000 per week” says Lucy Morton, head of residential agency at JLL.

The company has 11 offices across the capital - nine physical ones and two ‘virtual’.

At one of its physical offices, Canary Wharf, the firm says September’s lettings were the busiest ever - up 23 per cent on August, and 63 per cent higher than July. Again, HNW students were cited by the company as a key driver in demand.

Morton claims there has also been strong demand for corporate lets who are taking more commercial space, despite Brexit uncertainty.

”Again, these tenants usually require one or two-bedroom apartments, so we've seen particularly high demand in this market and there is now a shortage of one and two bed properties available to let. We recently brought to market a development of 48 apartments by The Crown Estate – The Sherwood - and over half were let within two weeks” she says.