New prospective tenants registered per branch continued to rise up to 82, from January’s figure of 81. Year-on-year this remains the same as February 2020 but is a huge leap from the previous February figure of 65 in 2019. Regionally, the West Midlands had the highest number of new tenants registered per branch with an average of 126.
Rent prices
Year-on-year figures have risen with 49 per cent of agents seeing landlords increasing rent compared to 39 per cent in January, compared to 40 per cent compared to February 2020. The number of tenants successfully negotiating rent reductions remained static at two per cent which is the same as the figure reported in February 2020.
Supply of rental stock
Agents are seeing managed properties per letting agent branch fall for the third month in a row from 196 in January to 195 in February.
Regionally, the North East had the highest number of properties managed per letting agent branch with a figure of 284. However, rental stock was the lowest in London with an average of 94 properties managed per branch.
Landlords selling up
Landlords looking to sell their buy-to-let properties remained the same for the fifth month in a row, at four per branch in February. Year-on-year this figure is slightly lower than the February 2020 figure of five.
Today’s report demonstrates that the rental market continues to show no sign of slowing down, as demand for rental properties rose yet again in February. Letting agents have continued to support landlords and their tenants throughout the ongoing COVID-19 difficulties, and it is essential that tenancies are maintained wherever possible to ensure rent keeps flowing.
