London rental prices and tenant demand surges

During the pandemic, the rental market in the capital was negatively impacted. During this time tenants no longer prioritised city life as offices, shops, and venues were closed.

New research from Rentd, has revealed that London rental prices and tenant demand have drastically recovered in 2022.

The price to rent across different boroughs in London was recorded by the rental portal. These findings show annual rent has increased across 42% of London boroughs and tenant demand has improved across every London borough.

These findings were gathered by assessing the rental demand based on the proportion of rental homes listed across London that have already been purchased by returning tenants.

London boroughs with a decline 

The current average rent across London is sitting at £1,597, meaning tenants pay 3% less per month on average compared to a year ago. 

Rental values are down 19% in the City of London, Lambeth is down -12%, and Westminster is down 10% versus 12 months ago. 

Rental value and tenant demand increases

In total 11 boroughs have also seen rental values rise between one and three percent each year. 

Over the last year, Kingston upon Thames has seen the largest increase in rental values at +12%, with Bexley (+8%) and Croydon (+7%).

Barking and Dagenham had the highest rise in demand with a +23% increase in the level of rental stock being let. Waltham Forest increased by +22%, Newham (+21%), Haringey (+19%), and Greenwich (+19%) also seeing some of the largest jumps.

At 59% Bexley has the highest current level of demand. Other boroughs including Lewisham, Bromley, Sutton, and Waltham Forest also saw high levels of interest.

Founder and chief executive officer of Rentd, Ahmed Gamal, explains: “During the pandemic, the London rental market was knocked for six due to a severe decline in both domestic and international tenant demand. The result of which was some drastic declines in rental values and we’re still seeing the tailwind of this trend today.” 

“However, as we’ve edged further and further back towards normality rental values have started to climb in many areas and we’ve also seen an uplift in rental demand across the entire market. While the impact of this increasing demand won’t be immediately visible where rental values are concerned, it’s only a matter of time before we see the capital return to full health as a result.”