"We’ve seen expected growth and are now into a more consistent busy market we normally see at this time of year."
- Gareth Atkins, managing director of Lettings
Despite the average weekly rent remaining stable last month at £597 p.w, with less than 1% reduction of June’s average weekly rent, this figure is 12% higher than July 2022. In the UK, Central London continues to be the most expensive place to live at close to £680. Although, East London saw a 15% increase in average weekly rent when comparing 2023 to 2022 year to date.
In July, Foxtons found that applicant demand increased by 13% compared to June as London entered peak letting season. Compared to 2022, July demand was lower, with a 4% decrease year to date and an overall decline of 15% since last July. London saw 7% more instructions than in June, translating to roughly 2.5k more instructions, while new listings rose by 6% compared to July 2022.
Consequently, Foxtons saw an average of twenty-one rental applicants per new instruction which is an 18% increase month-on-month. However this was a 12% decrease when compared to 2022.
South London saw the highest number of applicants per instruction with an average of thirty applicants in July, followed by East London which saw a 63% increase, rising to twenty-six applicants per instruction.
On average, rental spend in July remained at 99%, which was 2% higher than 2022 year to date. Central London was the only region where renters were, on average, spending higher than their budgets, with the average sitting at 102%. Of all rental deals over budget year-to-date, 36% of them were in Central London.
Commenting on these findings, Sarah Tonkinson, managing director of Institutional PRS and Build to Rent, has said:
“July’s market experienced a rise in activity that always comes with peak lettings season; demand increased 13%. This period always sees a flurry of activity as families move to London, new graduates head for London workplaces and the student population make plans for the coming academic year.
“The good news for renters is that there is 6% more stock available compared this this time last year, but competition is still fierce for quality properties and allowing enough time for your search is still key.”
Gareth Atkins, managing director of Lettings, added:
“As our market research predicted at the start of 2023, price increases in the lettings market are less extreme than we saw last year. We’ve seen expected growth and are now into a more consistent busy market we normally see at this time of year.
"As such, the market will remain highly competitive through summer. This July, as the seasonal rush began, there was an average of 21 renters registering per each new instruction in London.”
