50,000 rental properties are needed to bring supply back to pre-pandemic levels, according to property portal Rightmove.
Investment from new landlords should be encouraged, says the company’s director of property science Tim Bannister
The call comes as the average number of enquiries for each rental home is now 13, down from 19 at this time last year, but still nearly triple the five in March 2019.
The average advertised rent of new properties coming on to the market hits a 17th consecutive record, with the average price of rental properties outside of London now £1,291 per calendar month (pcm).
Average rental prices are now 8.5 per cent higher than a year ago, however ,the pace of rent growth continues to slow and drops for the second quarter in a row.
Although the balance of supply and demand is slowly improving from its peak, thousands of good quality rental properties are needed to head back to the pre-pandemic level of rental supply.
The latest market stats show that the number of rental properties available to tenants is 11 per cent higher than at this time last year, though still 26 per cent below 2019.
Similarly, the number of would-be tenants looking for a home to rent has eased by 17 per cent compared to last year but is still 54 per cent higher than pre-pandemic 2019.
Rightmove’s director of property science Tim Bannister says: “The rental market is no longer at peak boiling point but it remains at a very hot simmer.
“Looking at data across the whole market, we can see some slow improvements for tenants with more choice, and competition with other tenants slowly starting to ease.
“However, tenants may not feel the benefit of some of these improvements in their local market, as the balance between supply and demand remains so far from pre-pandemic levels.
“The fact that even with some improvements to the level of supply, we are still nearly 50,000 properties behind the pre-pandemic market, is a stark reminder that the industry needs more good quality rental homes, and we need to encourage investment from landlords to provide them.”
Landlords and potential landlords with good quality properties to let can call 01603 219319 for information on the flexible support offered by Norfolk Property Management and Lettings.
