Tenants numbers up as lettings market bounce back continues

The number of new prospective tenants has risen markedly according to figures from ARLA Propertymark.

In June - the latest data available - the average branch registered 79 new tenants compared to 70 in May.

Year-on-year, this figure is the highest recorded by ARLA for the month of June; in 2019 the June figure was itself the previous record, of 71. 

However, the latest surge is still down on pre-lockdown levels when there was an average of 82 prospective tenants registered per branch in February.

Similarly, the number of rental properties on the market in June continued to pick up - and it’s another high for June with an average of 200 properties managed per letting agent branch. 

This is down slightly from 208 in May, but ARLA believes it still sets the market up for an active summer compared to the usual seasonal lull. 

Regionally, Yorkshire & Humberside saw the highest number of properties managed, with an average of 264 per branch; Wales had the lowest number of properties on its books, with an average of just 104 per branch.

The number of tenants experiencing rent rises also increased in June.

Some 29 per cent of agents witnessed landlords increasing rent compared to just 14 per cent in May. However, this is still the lowest number of rent increases for the month of June since 2016.

The average time properties were empty between tenancies decreased to four weeks in June from five weeks during May.