Annual Declines Seen in November’s Lettings Market

Annual declines have been seen in the UK lettings market over November, despite a buoyant month in October, according to the latest Property Activity Index from Agency Express.

The report reveals a slowdown in lettings market activity as we draw closer to the festive period.

Nationally, the number of new property listings to let across the UK dropped by 1.6% over the month to November, while the amount of properties let was down by 7.2%.

Looking back at Agency Express’ historical records, annual comparisons show this November’s declines to be greater than those recorded in both 2017 and 2016.

Across the UK, five of the 12 regions included in the index saw growth in the number of properties to let, while four recorded increases in the amount of properties let.

The greatest rise in November’s index was recorded in the North East, where the number of properties let was up by a robust 33.3% on October. However, the region also experienced the largest decrease of the month, with new listings down by 31.3%.

The South East followed suit, with the number of new listings up by 19.1% and properties let down by 16.5%.

Again, looking back at Agency Express’ historical records, we can see that year-on-year data for the North East is positive, but the number of properties let in the South East has dropped.

Of the remaining regions, prominent performers in November included:

Property listings

• South West: +14.3%
• East Anglia: +8.7%
• East Midlands: +7.8%
• London: +2.0%

Properties let

• Yorkshire and the Humber: +5.9%
• North West: +1.7%
• Scotland: +0.4%

Stephen Watson, the Managing Director of Agency Express, comments: “This month, we have seen a much steeper decline than usual across the UK lettings market. As now we move into the December seasonal slowdown, we don’t anticipate any increases in activity, so will be interesting to see how the end of year figures stand.”