New rental listings in UK up by almost 7% in November

New rental listings increased by 6.8% in the UK in November, the second month in a row of positive growth, with almost 60% of towns and cities seeing a rise, the latest data shows.

Four cities recorded triple digit increases in new rental supply, including Bristol which was up 162.7% compared to October but London recorded a fall of 1.2% in new buy to let properties on the market.

The data from property crowdfunding platform Property Partner also shows that the three other cities with triple digit increases in rental supply were Southampton, Portsmouth and Huddersfield, up 108.2%, 102.8% and 101% respectively.

Other locations with rises included Bath up 96.1%, York up 91.6%, Coventry up 77.2%, Exeter up 71.4%, Plymouth up 54.5% and Loughborough up 50.2%.

The data also shows that there were significant falls in the number of new buy to let properties in towns and cities in the North and East Midlands led by Derby with a fall of 33.4% and Rochdale down 27.6%.

Other towns and cities to see a drop were Sheffield down 24.1%, Leicester down 22.8%, Stockton on Tees down 22.7%, Lancaster down 20.9%, Sale down 20.7%, Peterborough down 19.2%, Southport down 17.5% and Darlington down 16.8%.

More than half of London’s boroughs saw falls in new rentals. Kingston upon Thames saw a fall of 12%, followed by Barking and Dagenham down 10.7%, Kensington and Chelsea, Merton and Camden all down 10.4% and Redbridge down 10.2%.

‘It has been another encouraging month for prospective tenants on the hunt for new rental properties. Both October and November saw consecutive increases in the supply of new listings, somewhat silencing any murmurings that we were in for an era of depressed rental supply. In some towns and cities it even appears to be a renters’ market,’ said Dan Gandesha, chief executive officer of Property Partner.

‘While many aspire to own, the demand for rental accommodation is set to grow, with increasing numbers choosing to rent due to a lack of affordable housing for potential buyers.
With the private rental sector almost doubling in the past decade, and one in five households in England now in private rented accommodation, it’s vital to ensure good quality homes which are professionally managed,’ he pointed out.

‘But the flipside is that many landlords are feeling the financial squeeze due to recent tax changes and stricter lending criteria. Imminent cuts in mortgage interest tax relief may just make it impossible to make ends meet, particularly in London and the South East, resulting in many buy to lets being sold and a knock-on effect of reduced rental supply in the future,’ he added.