UK letting agents are still receiving nearly double the number of enquiries about each available rental property than they were pre-pandemic.

A new Rightmove study reveals that each property receives an average of 11 enquiries compared with six in 2019, despite the winter typically being one of the quieter periods for the market.

However, the number of available properties has improved by 7% compared with this time last year, while the number of prospective tenants looking to move has dropped by 19%, says Rightmove. This improvement in the balance of supply and demand has contributed to a slowing in the pace of rental growth.

Average rents outside London are now £1,339 a month - 4.5% above this time last year, the slowest rate of annual rent growth since 2021 - while rents are 2% above last year in London.

Affordability ceiling

Rightmove predicts that average newly advertised rents will rise by 3% outside London, and 3% in London by the end of 2025, while there are signs that tenants are hitting an affordability ceiling and would not be able to shoulder much higher rent rises.

Letting agents are already having to reduce the price of more rental properties, with 26% of properties seeing a reduction in the advertised rental price before finding a tenant, compared with 23% last year.

Tim Bannister (main image) Rightmove’s property expert, says: “Whilst at a top-level, we’ve seen overall improvements in the balance between supply and demand, agents tell us they are still extremely busy and having to manage high volumes of tenant enquiries. We’re therefore likely to see a more normal figure of around 3% growth in newly advertised rents next year.”