Rental availability across prime London increased to a four-year high as new instructions grew in July, according to data just released by LonRes.
The consultancy says the number of agreed lets fell on an annual basis in July, while rental growth slowed slightly.
Annual rental growth in July was 3.3%, down from a revised 5.4% in June and back in line with the average over the past 18 months of 3%. Rents across prime London are now 34.8% above their 2017-2019 (pre-pandemic) average.
Broken down by sub-market, rental growth is in general behaving similarly across what it calls “core catchments” but prime central London has been the best performer in recent months.
Covering neighbourhoods such as Mayfair and Knightsbridge, annual rental growth in PCL in July was 5.1%.
More generally, all areas of prime London – not just the capital’s centre – have seen relatively steady growth averaging around the 3% mark since the start of 2024, well below the double-digit rises seen in 2023 and the even higher level prior to that where annual growth peaked at over 20% in 2022.
The data for July indicated an annual decrease of 7.7% in lets agreed but a 7.7% increase in new instructions, with activity on both measures remaining well below pre-pandemic levels.
The stock of available rental properties increased, with 18.3% more homes on the market across prime London at the end of July than a year earlier.
A LonRes spokesperson says: “Available stock across the prime London lettings market continued its recovery in July as new instructions increased while agreed lets fell. Annual rental growth slowed to 3.3% in July, with prime central areas seeing the highest rises so far this year.”
via [Letting Agent Today]