Data from the third quarter of 2021 shows that tenants are returning to London, and that rent prices have risen for the first time since the pandemic took hold at the beginning of 2020.
A year of various lockdowns and restrictions hit the capital hard, as landlords in London (and other major cities) tend to be reliant on demand from working professionals.
With the shift towards home-working, many of those tenants chose to rent more cheaply elsewhere, or move back to living with family.
This led to a sharp decline in the demand for rental properties in London and other major cities. Research by Sequre Property Investment found that the level of rental stock surplus across major cities climbed consistently through 2020, culminating in a 77% year-on-year increase by the end of Q4 in 2020.
2021, however, marked the beginning of the decline in this trend. Progressive easing of COVID related restrictions has precipitated rejuvenated demand for rental properties.
This increased demand, coupled with a slightly reduced supply of rental properties, means that rent prices are seeing a steadily upward trend.
This is welcome news for London landlords, many of whom were left with little choice but to lower their rent prices in recent months in the hope of attracting renters back into the city.
Numerous indicators now point toward a notable uplift in demand for rental properties within London and across most of the UK’s major cities.
After one of the most difficult periods in recent times for the London rental market, things are finally looking up.
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