Lettings market much stronger than a year ago as pandemic recedes

The latest snapshot of the lettings market from PropTech firm Goodlord suggests that activity is much stronger now than a year ago, with rents rising in most regions and typical void periods on the way down.

Looking at June the company says that the average cost of rent has risen by an average of three per cent annually.

The biggest rise was seen in the South West, which saw average prices increase by 11 per cent from £859 per month to £965. Wales wasn’t far behind, posting a nine per cent rise in average rental costs. 

The only region which saw a dip in prices was the East Midlands, which saw average rental costs decrease by 4 per cent from £825 to £795.

The UK average rental cost, per property, now stands at £892.72 per month. This is up from £862.48 in May. 

Void periods dropped in five out of eight regions monitored, as the market caught up to demand following the lifting of lockdown rules. 

The biggest drop came in the North East, with voids reducing from 29 to 17 days on average. 

A similarly large decrease came in the South West, where void periods dropped from 23 to 12 days.

It was a different picture elsewhere, however, with increases in void periods in the East Midlands, Greater London and the West Midlands.

After a huge number of new tenancy applications were received during May, June saw that demand translate into completed lets. 

The number of completed lets stayed above 2019 averages for all but six days of June, marking an extremely busy month for the industry. 

The busiest day of the month was Wednesday June 10 when the number of completed lets was 24 per cent higher than the same day in 2019. 

New applications also remained steady. Each day in June saw new tenancy applications remain above 90 per cent of 2019 levels.  At the peak of the crisis, they dropped to a low of 28 per cent.