The number of EU nationals taking up new tenancies across the UK has steadily fallen since 2017, analysis from Goodlord has found.
From January 2017 to November 2020 (inclusive), the proportion of EU renters in England fell from 20% to 14% of all tenants.
Looking at tenancies in London, where a large proportion of EU tenants choose to live, during 2017, the average proportion of London tenants who were originally from EU countries stood at 29%. In 2018, this dropped to 24% and then further to 22.5% in 2019. In 2020, EU tenants accounted for just 22% of London residents.
Tom Mundy, chief operating officer of Goodlord, said: “There was no mass exodus of EU citizens following the Brexit vote.
“Instead, we’ve seen a steady but marked decrease in the number of people from the EU moving to England over the last four years.
“This trend has borne out across the whole of England, but particularly so in London, which had a higher number of EU tenants to start with.
“We saw a bump in numbers in 2018 just ahead of the two-year deadline, as those wishing to make England their home took what might have been their last chance.
“But, since then, each passing month has seen the number of people from Europe signing rental agreements steadily decline.”
