Rents dip, voids increase as lettings market hunkers down for winter

The latest rental market snapshot from PropTech supplier Goodlord shows the market cooling, but with year-on-year demand still high in comparison to 2020.

The average rent fell in all regions monitored by Goodlord during October, dipping by an average of 8.9 per cent when compared to September prices. 

The South West saw the biggest decrease, recording a 16 per cent reduction. This was followed by a 14 per cent fall in the South East and 11 per cent in the North West.

Greater London, the North East, East Midlands and West Midlands recorded reductions of four to six per cent.

However, when looked at across the country the October average remains higher than figures recorded for May and June 2021 - and is still 7.2 per cent above the 2020 equivalent figure.

Voids are at their highest average since May, hitting 19 days during October. This is up from September’s average of 17 days.

There was a big shift in the North East where, after four months of historically low voids, the average has returned to a more typical 20 days in October, up from 11 the previous month. 

The East Midlands, Greater London, and the South West also recorded a rise in void periods while the South West was static at 17 days. 

The North West, however, saw a drop in voids from 25 days to 18 days, and the West Midlands also saw a decrease; 21 days down to 19.

Year-on-year, voids are currently 17 per cent lower than 2020 averages, demonstrating the ongoing strength of the market in 2021 so far.

Goodlord’s chief operating officer Tom Munday comments on the findings: “We’ve witnessed huge market demand in 2021 so far and I’m not surprised that void periods are still lower than those recorded in 2020 and that average rents are much higher too.

“We’ve definitely seen a slight cooling of demand this month, as is to be expected following the summer surge from renters and early autumn demand from students. 

“But this cooling should be taken with a pinch of salt as the year-on-year figures clearly show that the lettings sector is continuing to experience consistently high demand across England.”