There was little sign of the Coronavirus Crisis dampening the rental market in August, according to ARLA Propertymark’s latest survey of its letting agent members.
Instead records were broken. Prospective tenants per branch rose to 101, breaking the July record. Meanwhile the number of rental properties available per branch equalled the July record of 208.
Nearly half of agents (48 per cent) reported that landlords had increased rents in August, more than in July but fewer than in August 2019.
The average length of tenancies also hit an all-time high of 21 months in August. The figure was highest in the East Midlands with tenancies lasting 25 months and the lowest in the North East, lasting an average of ten months.
The number of tenants experiencing rent increases rose in August, with nearly half (48 per cent) of agents witnessing landlords increasing rent compared to 29 per cent in June and 39 per cent in July. Year-on-year, this is still 16 per cent lower than in August 2019, when the figure stood at 64 per cent.
