Rental demand has settled from its migration-driven peak, but fewer homes are returning to the market and tenant affordability is now limiting how far advertised rents can rise, according to a ten-year review by Hello Neighbour.
The lettings platform said its viewing requests fell from an average 69 per available property in the first seven months of 2023 to 34 in the same period of 2026. Requests are now holding at roughly 30 to 40 per listing, while Zoopla recorded 5.6 enquiries per available rental home in May, down from 15.5 at the market’s peak.
Turnover, rather than the headline size of the private rented sector, is the pressure point. Hello Neighbour cited Deposit Protection Service figures showing average tenancies rose from 773 days in 2021 to 1,085 days by April 2025. When tenants stay put longer, fewer homes are advertised even if the total number of rental dwellings does not fall.
Net migration is no longer the main driver
Hello Neighbour said net migration peaked at 944,000 in the year to March 2023 and had fallen to 171,000 in the year to December 2025. It argues that the exceptional demand shock has worked through the market, leaving household incomes and the rate at which existing homes come back to market as the more immediate influences on rents.
Phil Shelley, chairman of Hello Neighbour, said the market had moved into a more normalised phase after viewing requests halved over three years. He warned landlords against assuming a higher asking rent will hold just because recent advertised-rent data has been firm, noting that an empty property can cost more than a disputed increase is worth.
This follows Landlord Knowledge’s August coverage of Hello Neighbour data showing London asking rents rise while demand fell. The company’s new national rental-price analysis gives that pattern a longer frame and points to affordability as the constraint on the next phase of growth.
Longer tenancies keep availability tight
The report said the English private rented sector contained 5.03 million homes at March 2025, its highest recorded level, but that availability can still shrink when tenants renew rather than move. It also said England added 208,600 net dwellings in 2024-25, below the 300,000 annual benchmark, so new supply will not quickly change the position.
For landlords, the useful distinction is between advertised rent and achieved rent. The Renters’ Rights Act has led some owners to set a higher price at the start of a tenancy because in-tenancy rises are harder to secure. That approach carries a letting risk if the local market cannot support it, especially where applicants have more choice than they did two years ago.
Moderate growth around wages is a more plausible reading of the data than another sudden surge. It still leaves a difficult operating environment in areas with thin availability, but it makes local pricing, tenant retention and void control more important than broad national averages.
What this means for landlords
- If you are re-letting: test the asking rent against recent local lets, not just the highest advertised comparables.
- If your tenant wants to renew: a reliable long-term tenancy may be worth more than chasing a small uplift and risking a void.
- Watch for: local listing volumes and viewing levels, which may give a faster signal than national rent indices.
- Bottom line: lower demand does not mean easy supply, but affordability is putting a firmer ceiling on rent rises.
Editor’s view
The rental market is becoming less forgiving of lazy pricing. Supply remains tight, yet the days when any asking rent could be justified by a queue of applicants appear to be over. Landlords who price accurately and keep good tenants should be better placed than those relying on an old shortage narrative.
Author: Editorial Team – UK landlord & buy-to-let news, policy, and finance
Published: 7 September 2026
Sources: Hello Neighbour
Related reading: Hello Neighbour: London asking rents rise 8.7% as July demand drops
