Rental demand hotspots revealed as eager tenants push national figure up by 7%

Research by estate and lettings agent, Barrows and Forrester, has revealed that tenant demand has started to rise across England’s rental market, with demand up by as much as 15% in some parts of the country.

The Barrows and Forrester Rental Demand Index monitors rental listings across the nation, taking an average demand score for each English county based on the number of properties already let as a percentage of all rental listings, highlighting where demand for rental homes is at its highest.

Rental demand across England is currently sitting at 46%, having seen good quarterly growth of 7% between Q2 and Q3 of this year.

In terms of the strongest rental markets at present, Bristol, West Sussex and Bedfordshire rank top.

Across the City of Bristol, 66% of all rental homes listed have already been taken by tenants, with this demand also up 6% on the previous quarter.

In West Sussex, demand is 61% despite a -5% quarterly decline while in Bedfordshire, demand sits at 57% having increased by 6%.

Other areas where demand for rental homes is hot at present include Hertfordshire, East Sussex, Cambridgeshire, and Suffolk (56%), while in Bath & North East Somerset, Rutland, and Dorset, over half of all rental homes have already been let (55%).

In terms of quarterly performance, nowhere has seen demand increase more than the City of London where it’s grown by 15%, suggesting the rental market decline caused by pandemic restrictions within the workplace is well and truly in reverse.

Nottinghamshire has also enjoyed good growth of 12% while West Yorkshire and the West Midlands have each seen growth of 11%.

In both Tyne & Wear and Greater London, demand has increased by 10% this quarter while in Merseyside and East Sussex demand is up 9%.

Growth has also been above the national average in Dorset and Berkshire, in both of which it’s up 8%.

The largest quarterly declines have been reported in the Isle of Wight (-12%), Cornwall (-12%), Dorset (-8%), and Shropshire (-6%).

Managing Director of Barrows and Forrester, James Forrester, commented:

“Demand for rental properties has continued to return to the market following a tough pandemic period, which touch wood, seems well and truly behind us now. More and more of us are returning to work or higher education in new locations, which has helped bolster the number of tenants looking for accommodation.

Of course, there remains a shortage of homes to meet this demand, largely due to the government’s campaign against the buy-to-let sector and you’d need only look at the issues facing many students in securing term time accommodation to see more needs to be done.

The demand for rental homes is only likely to grow stronger over the coming months, as the current economic landscape forces many to remain renting having been priced out of owning their own home.”