Rents in the private rented sector are becoming more affordable in many parts of London at a time when demand has been falling, new research shows.
Some 16% of landlords in outer London haves reduced rents over the last year, according to the research by the National Landlords Association (NLA).
The research also shows that while 23% of landlords have increased rents in outer London this is the second lowest in the UK over the last year with only the North East being lower at 18%.
And the net proportion of landlords increasing rents in outer London over the last year stands at 7% in contrast to areas commutable to London such as the East of England and South East, where it reaches 44% and 29% respectively.
In central London the figures also show that 14% of landlords have decreased rents over the same time period. Around the country, some 42% of landlords with properties in the South West increased their rents in the last year while in the East Midlands only 1% of landlords decreased their rents.
The findings also continue a trend noticed by the NLA early last year, where tenant demand in Greater London dropped from 45% to 17%.
‘These findings do not mean London is suddenly going to become more affordable for renters, but it seems to confirm that the trend of a softening of tenant demand in the capital is well established,’ said Richard Lambert, chief executive officer of the NLA.
‘Both landlords and tenants are continuing to look outside of the capital to other centres and areas commutable to London which, if anything, will only serve to push up prices in those regions,’ he added.
