Lettings rebounding after lockdown - more evidence emerges

Knight Frank is the latest agency to produce evidence that the lettings sector has rebounded in the four weeks since the property lockdown ended in mid-May.

The number of valuation appraisals for lettings properties undertaken by the agency in the week ending June 6 was the highest number on record and 19 per cent above the five-year average. 

On the demand side, the weekly number of new prospective tenants was 40 per cent above the five-year average and the second highest figure this year.

Restrictions on UK property transactions were lifted on 13 May following an eight-week period during which physical viewings ground to a halt.

Knight Frank’s figures shows that the lettings market has rebounded more quickly than the sales sector. 

The number of rental viewings last week was one per cent higher than the five-year average despite the fact social distancing rules remain in place. 

The equivalent figure for the sales market in London was still 26 per cent below the long-term average, the agency admits. 

Despite the increase, activity levels in the lettings market haven’t returned to where they were during the second half of 2019 when demand was boosted by uncertainty in the sales market due to Brexit-related political volatility. 

The three highest weeks on record for new prospective tenants registering were all in September last year.

“We expect demand to get even stronger when there is more certainty around how universities will be teaching their courses next year” explains Jon Reynolds, head of lettings at Knight Frank for the City, east and Riverside region in London. 

“Those announcements will make a huge difference and demand will be bolstered further as companies reactivate relocation plans that are currently on hold.”