Asking rents dip as stock increase allows tenant churn

New figures from London lettings agency Chestertons reveal that 10 per cent more tenants moved in February this year compared to the same month in 2022. 

And according to the data, there were 37 per cent more rental properties on the market than in February 2022.

The agency’s branches found that the uplift in available rental properties created more competition amongst landlords with many opting to reduce asking rents in order to attract the right tenants.

Richard Davies, chief operating officer of Chestertons, says: “With the capital suffering from a chronic lack of rental properties, we have seen a growing backlog of tenants who are desperate to move to a new home. Last month’s increase in rental properties becoming available brought some much-needed relief and saw some landlords being open to rent negotiations.”

According to Chestertons, whilst asking rents were up 11 per cent compared to February 2022, the actual achieved rental increase stood at only three per cent due to around two thirds of landlords lowering their initial asking rent. 

“Despite some price negotiations taking place, the market will, however, remain competitive and prices will remain widely unaffected unless we see even larger volumes of landlords return to the capital” Davies cautions.

In its 2023 market forecast, Chestertons previously advised that more properties are becoming available and that affordability pressures are placing an effective cap on tenants’ budgets. 

This would further help rebalance London’s rental market and reduce the pace of rental price growth with rents to continue to grow by up to five per cent over 2023, before plateauing in 2024.