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UK Lettings Market Slows Down for the Summer
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
Following a buoyant June for market activity, the latest Property Activity Index from Agency Express reveals a slowdown across the UK lettings market in July.
This matches data from across the sales market for the same period, also from Agency Express.
Nationally, the number of properties to let dropped by 2.7% between June and July, while the amount of properties let was down by 1.4%.
However, the index’s historical data shows that the decline in properties to let was much lower than the figure recorded in 2017, when new listings were down by 9%.
Observing activity across the 12 regions included in the index, four recorded growth in new listings to let, while five saw increases in the number of properties let.
The North East sat at the top of July’s leaderboard. Following a slowdown in June, the region bounced back, with new listings up by 15.2% and the number of properties let up by a robust 34.2%. Agency Express’ historical data also shows that this increase is the largest for the month of July since 2015.
Other prominent performing regions included:
Properties to let
- South East: +6%
- East Anglia: +5.2%
- North West: +4.1%
Properties let
- North West: +16.3%
- East Anglia: +10.2%
- East Midlands: +3.1%
- Scotland: +1.7%
The greatest declines in July’s Property Activity Index were seen in Yorkshire and the Humber. The number of properties to let was down by 11.8%, while the amount of properties let fell by 19.8%. This drop in activity marked the region’s largest monthly decrease for July since the index’s first records in 2012.
London followed suit, with fewer rental properties hitting the market than the previous month, down by 13.3%.
Stephen Watson, the Managing Director of Agency Express, comments: “This month, we have seen slower movement throughout the UK lettings market, but declines are expected during the summer holiday period.
“While we do expect to see some increases in August, we don’t envisage a real pick-up in activity until September.”
