Rental demand dips in the final quarter of 2024

Rental demand dips in the final quarter of 2024

0:05 AM, 20th January 2025, About 7 hours ago

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Tenant demand for rental properties in England experienced a seasonal decline in the fourth quarter of 2024, research reveals.

According to Zero Deposit, there was a 7.3% quarterly drop in demand, which follows an annual decline of 2.6%.

The analysis, based on the number of let agreements compared to available stock, also shows that while national figures are falling, four counties bucked the trend.

They were Somerset (3.2% increase), Cornwall (2.8%), North Yorkshire (1.4%) and Warwickshire (1.1%).

Rental demand in Leicestershire saw the sharpest decline at 15%, followed by the Isle of Wight (-12.1%), West Midlands (-11.9%), Devon (-11.6%) and Buckinghamshire (-11.5%).

Rental crisis is not easing

The firm’s chief executive, Sam Reynolds, said: “A reduction in rental demand during the final quarter of last year may suggest that the current rental crisis is easing but this is far from the reality.

“The market continues to suffer from a severe imbalance when it comes to the demand seen for rental properties versus the supply of stock available across the market.

“Despite this, the rental market isn’t immune to the seasonal trends that impact the rest of the property sector and so the decline in demand seen during Q4 can almost certainly be attributed to these seasonal factors.”

He added: “In the run up to Christmas, many tenants will have already made their move and those who haven’t are more likely to put their plans on hold until the dust has settled on the festive period.”

Somerset was the hottest rental market

The research shows that Somerset was the hottest rental market in Q4, with 50.8% of properties already let.

West Sussex followed closely with 47.3%, while demand exceeded 40% in Suffolk, Bedfordshire, Wiltshire, Cornwall and Warwickshire.

Conversely, West Yorkshire (16.6%), Nottinghamshire (17%) and Leicestershire (17.5%) witnessed significantly lower demand.


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