15 tenants compete for every London rental home

The renting situation in London for tenants is laid bare with figures highlighting that 15 renters are competing for every new property, one firm says.

The figures come from Foxtons and their rental index which shows that the number of tenants competing to secure a property for November is 31% lower than in October – but it’s still 35% higher than in 2021.

In some good news for tenants, the data shows that rents fell 3% between October and November.

That is probably down to the number of new homes to rent rising by 7% from October to 24,132.

Capital’s rental market is starting to cool

Foxtons says that the figures show that the capital’s rental market is starting to cool and is now returning to its normal seasonal trend for winter.

The firm also highlights that this trend saw a 26% drop in the number of tenants registering in October – but the figure is still 15% higher than for October last year.

And London’s outer zones are showing higher levels of tenant demand, particularly in South and West London, where renter registrations are up 34% and 54% respectively compared to 2021.

In November, the average rent price was £551 per week, the third month running that average rents have been £550 or more.

While this is a 3% fall on October’s figure, it is also 20% higher than in November last year.

Competition is high in South London with 31 renters competing for each new listing, while the East and West regions followed with 28 renters per new listing.

The fall in tenant numbers

Foxtons also warns that with the fall in tenant numbers, their rent budgets have dropped as well.

However, tenants appear to be geared up for paying higher rents and these are 7% higher than last year.

But renters are, on average, spending 100% of their budget in November which is 1% lower than October – and that is 3% higher than the same month in 2021.

‘All eyes are on the London lettings market’

The firm’s managing director of lettings, Gareth Atkins, said: “With so much debate on rising rent prices, cost of living, mortgage rates and supply shortages, all eyes are on the London lettings market.

“There has been a slight seasonal decline in demand, which is usual at this time of year, alongside an unusual, marginal increase in supply.

“There were 15 new renters competing for each new listing this November, which is a 31% reduction from October but still represents historically high demand.”

He added: “In line with a little more property available, we have seen rental prices stall, but there’s still a long way to go before we see rent prices move away from recent record highs.”

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