Snapshot of the Market

Snapshot of the market.

An early summer update from Helen, our Lettings Director.

Although we are finding a steadier increase in supply of rental properties this year, there is still not enough properties to fill the demand. According to Rightmove, the number of available rental properties is 11% higher than last year, but 26% below the levels of 2019. Unfortunately there is still a shortage of rental homes of over 50,000 in the UK causing pain for landlords, tenants and letting agents alike.

In more positive news rental prices are increasing at a slower rate than last year according to Rightmove’s data. The third quarter of 2023 saw a 3.8% increase, last quarter 0.2% and the first quarter of 2024 an 0.8% increase. Landlord and Agents all have to be cognisant of the tenant’s ability to afford homes or they can price good tenants out of the market. As the cost of living crisis still endures many landlords would agree a good tenants is often better than a higher paying one!

The greatest reductions in rental price are within the larger homes and apartments markets with the space becoming saturated with build-to-rent properties. The two- and three-bedroom market is still oversubscribed and is achieving more modest increases in rent price.  

At the time of writing, in the Leeds City Centre postcode of LS12, there are 176 properties being advertised on Rightmove, of which all are apartments, opposed to only 24 in the LS15 postcode of a mix of properties, one of the core areas which Emsleys rents properties. There has been a growing trend of moving from the city centre to the Leeds outskirts since the pandemic which has also been affected by the cost of living crisis and popularity of suburbs such as Garforth.

Emsleys are pleased to state in the first 10 days of May we have already reached 93% of the total enquires we received in the entirety of May 2023, with an average of fourteen enquiries per property. Here at Emsleys we consider finding the right tenant for our landlords our priority. Our tenant pre-qualifying process is undertaken prior to arranging viewings and shares essential information with Landlords which provides more confidence in the tenant and promotes confidence with tenants in finding the right property for themselves without wasting time. 

Sources:

Rightmove.co.uk/rental-price-tracker