Rent-to-rent firm says London lettings market led by Tech hubs

Rent-to-rent operator Residently says area with high volumes of tech company employees are leading the lettings market’s growth in London.

The firm provides landlords with long-term guaranteed income in return for their properties being put into Residently’s portfolio of rental properties across the capital; tenants enjoy additional services including cleaning, laundry and storage, and can move around the Residently network.

Now the firm says growth in the capital is strongest across tech centres such as Shoreditch, King’s Cross, Hammersmith, White City, Soho and Battersea.

Soho has seen the strongest growth of all London’s tech hubs, with rents increasing by 26 per cent over the last year according to the firm, while Shoreditch experienced far smaller growth of just 1.7 per cent over the same period. Hammersmith - where Disney, General Electric, L’Oreal and Fox TV have bases - have seen values rise by 8.0 per cent.

“People no longer want to slog across London to reach their office, meaning the quality of housing in areas surrounding tech headquarters has continued to improve as workers relocate to be near work” says Residently’s chief operating officer Trevor Stunden. 

“Gone are the days of a job for life or a home forever. People no longer necessarily want to purchase a property in the capital, especially if they work for a start-up, or international tech firm that could take them abroad at any time.”

He says London now employs more people in the technology, media and telecoms sectors than it does in finance, adding that the rise in collaborative and creative co-working spaces has also contributed to the success of these hubs, acting as a ripple effect on the wider local environment. 

In particular, this “tech ripple” has transformed a number of downmarket locations across London into places where people really want to live, as well as work, says the firm.

“Our flexible contracts are suited to modern day renters, not locking them into lengthy commitments. A huge benefit of our network of properties is that our residents can move between our properties seamlessly within a single agreement. We plan to expand to all major tech-hubs in the coming years enabling this to happen internationally” he concludes.