That’s according to Rightmove, which found that, despite an improvement in the supply and demand balance, the average number of enquiries sent to agents about each available property they have to rent is still nearly double the level it was in 2019.
Each property receives an average of 11 enquiries, despite the number of available properties improving by 7%, and the number of prospective tenants looking to move dropping 19% compared to this time last year.
Rent rises
Average rents outside of London are now £1,339 a month, 4.5% above this time last year, marking the slowest rate of annual rent growth since 2021.
Average UK rents have risen by 40% over the last five years, whilst earnings have risen by 28%.
Rightmove predicts that average newly advertised rents will rise by 3% both inside and outside of London by the end of 2025.
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It added that over a quarter (26%) of rental properties are currently seeing a reduction in the advertised rental price.
Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s property expert, said: “There are two competing factors influencing rental price changes right now. The ongoing imbalance between supply and demand is putting upwards pressure on prices. On the other hand, rent rises outpacing wage growth over the past five years has stretched affordability to extreme levels, and is showing in the increasing number of price reductions.
“Whilst at a top-level, we’ve seen overall improvements in the balance between supply and demand, agents tell us they are still extremely busy and having to manage high volumes of tenant enquiries. We’re therefore likely to see a more normal figure of around 3% growth in newly advertised rents next year.”
