Supply of homes to rent stays static for three straight months

The rental sector remains strong according to the latest market survey by Propertymark.

The number of new tenants registered on average per member branch reached a new peak at 141 in August - but the supply of available homes to rent has not risen in the last three months. 

The association says that a growing mismatch between supply and demand means pressure on rents will rise even further.

An average of 141 new applicants were registered per member branch in August. After months of rising figures this is now 188 per cent higher than in December.

Propertymark’s agents reported having 10.9 properties on average per branch available to rent in August - unchanged since June. 

Three quarters of member agents reported month-on-month rent prices increasing in August. 

Propertymark says that it has also seen a slight increase in new prospective tenants registered and instructions, suggesting the autumn market may have started a little early.

Propertymark chief executive Nathan Emerson says: “In the rental market we see a pressure cooker getting hotter. 

“The government seem to be missing every opportunity to re-evaluate costs for landlords, whilst this isn’t the most sentimentally attractive conversation for politicians it must be understood that if investment doesn’t work for landlords, ultimately tenants are severely impacted by a lack of choice and high rent prices.”

Meanwhile there’s more stock in the sale market, up 47 per cent since the depths of winter - but demand has risen by 79 per cent over the same period.

The number of agents reporting average price agreed at or above asking has held steady since July.

The volume of new buyers registering per member branch in August rose slightly over July potentially indicating the start of a pickup for the autumn season. There was 86 new prospective homebuyers registered per member branch in August – a 79 per cent increase since December last year.

The data also reveals that there were 11 new instructions on average per member branch in August.

The average number of properties available to buy per member branch was 28 in August. This is slightly up since the winter dip but still well below the pre-pandemic average of 40 properties available a year ago. 

Last month Propertymark reported that some buyers were starting to secure homes under the asking price, with 27 per cent of branches now reporting that most sales were completed below asking price compared to a low of just 15 per cent in March.

Nathan Emerson says: “The number of people wanting to buy is still good, and the number of properties available to buy is recovering from the mad dash we had before.