"In the run-up to Christmas, many tenants will have already made their move and those who haven’t are more likely to put their plans on hold until the dust has settled on the festive period"
- Sam Reynolds - Zero Deposit
Zero Deposit analysed rental demand across each county in England based on the number of available rental properties that have already seen a let agreed as a proportion of the total rental stock available.
National picture
The latest index by Zero Deposit shows that rental demand across England sat at 27.7% during the fourth quarter of 2024. This marks a quarterly decline of -7.3%, and a -2.6% drop since the start of 2024.
Quarterly movement
While the national picture shows falling demand, four English counties did see rental demand increase in the final quarter of last year.
Somerset saw the largest quarterly increase of +3.2%, followed by Cornwall (+2.8%), North Yorkshire (+1.4%), and Warwickshire (+1.1%). While the City of London saw no change, every other county reported falling rental demand in Q4.
The largest drop was seen in Leicestershire where demand fell by -15%. This is followed by the Isle of Wight (-12.1%), West Midlands County (-11.9%), Devon (-11.6%), and Buckinghamshire (-11.5%).
England’s hottest and coldest rental markets
England’s hottest rental market in Q4 was Somerset where just over half of all rental homes (50.8%) had been snapped up by tenants.
In West Sussex, 47.3% of all rental listings had already secured a tenant, while demand also sat at or above 40% in Suffolk (43%), Bedfordshire (42.1%), Wiltshire (41.7%), Cornwall (40.1%), and Warwickshire (40%).
In some counties, however, rental demand is severely lagging behind, not least in West Yorkshire (16.6%), Nottinghamshire (17%), and Leicestershire (17.5%).
“A reduction in rental demand during the final quarter of last year may suggest that the current rental crisis is easing but this is far from the reality," noted Sam Reynolds, CEO of Zero Deposit, adding "The market continues to suffer from a severe imbalance when it comes to the demand seen for rental properties versus the supply of stock available across the market.
"Despite this, the rental market isn’t immune to the seasonal trends that impact the rest of the property sector and so the decline in demand seen during Q4 can almost certainly be attributed to these seasonal factors.
Sam concluded, "In the run-up to Christmas many tenants will have already made their move and those who haven’t are more likely to put their plans on hold until the dust has settled on the festive period.
"Now that a new year is underway, we expect demand will once again start to climb and as tenants look to make their move.”
