Prime London rental market sluggish with lets agreed ...

London-focussed property data firm LonRes, which analysis activity in the prime areas of the capital, says annual rental growth increased to 1.4% in July but remains below recent levels.

Average rents across prime London are 29.6% above their 2017-2019 pre-pandemic average.

But LonRes data for July indicates an annual decrease of 3.9% in lets agreed and a 9.7% increase in new instructions, with activity on both measures well below pre-pandemic levels.

The stock of available rental properties is recovering gradually, but remains a long way off pre-pandemic levels.

For all price points there were 11.4% more homes on the market at the end of July than a year earlier, but 52.6% fewer than five years ago. Broken down by price point, availability at lower rental values has started to increase but it has a lot further to go compared to the top end of the prime lettings market.

Below £750 per week, availability was 6.2% higher at the end of July than a year earlier but it remains more than 70% below where it was five years ago. Above £2,000 per week the recovery to pre-pandemic levels is almost complete – available stock is within 20% of where it was five years ago.

On the sales side, LonRes says the prime London market saw a bounce-back in transactions in July, although prices continued to fall.

Values across prime London fell by 4.9% on an annual basis, remaining broadly in line (+0.6%) with 2017-2019 pre-pandemic levels.

Sales activity had its most positive month of the year so far, with 8.7% more transactions recorded than July 2023, 23.7% above the 2017-2019 (pre-pandemic) July average.

The number of properties going under offer also increased in July, up 23.6% compared to the same month last year. Some of this growth is explained by June’s poor performance, when the sales market slowed in the run up to the election and deals were put on hold. But the immediate bounce-back suggests sentiment is moving in the right direction.

New sales instructions in July were unchanged from last year, 2.3% higher than the 2017-2019 July average.