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Rental Market has Robust Start to the Year
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
The rental market across the UK had a robust start to the year, according to the latest Property Activity Index from Agency Express.
Rental Market has Robust Start to the Year
The firm found that the UK rental market gained momentum during January, with new property listings up by a record 50.8%, while the number of properties let also soared, by 47.1%.
Analysing its historical data, Agency Express found that January’s figures for new listings to let marked the greatest rise in activity for the month since its first records. The firm also found that activity in January has been steadily increasing over the past three years.
Back in January 2015, new listings in the rental market rose by 39.8%, while they were up by 43.6% in January 2016.
The amount of properties let has also shown strong growth over the past three years, up by 44.7% in 2015 and 46.1% in 2016.
Looking at the rental market across the UK’s 12 regions, Agency Express reports that the hotspots for January included:
New property listings
- Scotland: +84.1%
- Wales: +81.5%
- London: +67.7%
- East Anglia: +62.4%
- North East: +62.1%
Properties let
- Wales: +89.5%
- South West: +83.4%
- North East: +73.1%
- London: +55.8%
Last month’s top performing region was Scotland, with a record number of new listings to let. Wales followed suit with a record best January for the amount of properties let.
The smallest growth was recorded in the East Midlands. The number of properties coming onto the rental market rose by just 3.2%, while the amount of properties let was up by 22.1%. Looking back at historical data, this level of activity was last reported in 2013, says Agency Express.
The Managing Director of the firm, Stephen Watson, comments: “Following the December lull, a spike in activity is always predicted. While month-on-month figures for January are heavily affected by the change in seasonal activity we continue to see overall growth for the UK lettings market, with some unexpected regions returning record bests.”
