Rightmove says that although the balance of supply and demand is slowly improving from its peak, there are still nearly 50,000 rental properties needed to head back to the pre-pandemic level of rental supply.
It’s a stark reminder that the industry needs more good quality rental homes, and there needs to be more encouragement for landlords to investment in buy-to-let. Average landlord yields for Q1 2024 is up +0.5% at 6.2% with rents in the south east up 5.5% year on year in Q1.
The portal’s latest data shows the pace of rent growth continues to slow and drops for the second quarter in a row. The continued slowing in rental growth will be welcomed by affordability-constrained tenants, however, prices are still at record levels.
The market stats also show that the number of rental properties available to tenants is 11% higher than at this time last year, though still 26% below 2019. Similarly, the number of would-be tenants looking for a home to rent has eased by 17% compared to last year but is still 54% higher than pre-pandemic 2019.
Demand from tenants is now an average of 13 enquiries per rental property. While this is down from 19 at this time last year, it is still nearly triple the average of five back in March 2019. Meanwhile, Rightmove says the proportion of rental properties that see a reduction in price now stands at 22%, up from 16% at this time last year, and the highest at this time of year since 2019 when it was 23%. A third (30%) of top-ofthe-ladder properties which includes four-bedroom detached houses and all five-bedroom properties and above, are the most likely to see price reductions, a new record for this time of year dating back to 2012.
