London More Affordable For Tenants

There have been many changes in the property and rental market in the past year, and it looks as though London is now more affordable for tenants.

This might not be great news for landlords, but anyone looking to find more affordable rental accommodation in the capital will take some comfort in findings which indicate rental prices in the capital have fallen.

Looking to rent in London?

Rental prices in London fell by 3,4% over the year. There were also falls in the East of England, of 2.4% and in the South East, of 1.6%.

London didn’t have the largest fall, there was a fall of 4.4% in Bournemouth in 2020. There were also drops in Bristol, of 3.3%, in Nottingham, of 1.7% and Portsmouth, with a fall of 1.1% on the 2019 figures.

Of course, there have been some areas where the cost of renting has increased in England, and the cost of renting in the north east of the country has risen by 3% in 2020.

Some parts of the country experienced significant increases in rental prices

The driver for this change was Newcastle, were the annual cost of renting increased by a massive 16.6% in 2020. If this level of increase occurred in London, it would be a major headline in the news, and an example of how out of touch the London rental market is with reality.

There was an increase of 5.7% in the Leeds rental market, an increase of 3.3% in Birmingham and an increase of 2.9% in the Manchester market.

Ben Taylor, is a known name in the UK housing market, and he said; “It’s been a strange year for the rental market and both tenants and landlords have faced challenges posed by the pandemic. The impact of Covid has been more pronounced across the less affordable regions of the rental market. This will have been largely due to lower demand, as well as being influenced by tenant affordability with many struggling financially due to job losses and furlough.”

Ben continued by saying; “However, while tenants have seen a welcome reduction in the cost of renting, these regions remain home to the most robust rental costs and this will reassure landlords. Many may have feared a far larger market collapse was on the cards and so far, this simply hasn’t been the case. In fact, in many areas, the cost of renting has actually climbed despite the wider backdrop of a pandemic.

Ben concluded by saying; “With the vaccine now being rolled out and hopefully some light at the end of the tunnel, we should see market uncertainty settle down considerably throughout the course of this year. Although based on how 2020 turned out, we will believe it when we see it.”

If you need any help or guidance regarding property matters, please get in touch. As your local housing market specialists, we will do what we can to ensure you make your next house move in style. Contact Hunters Stoke Newington today for all your housing and letting needs.