There was a notable drop in the number of new rental listings, while the volume of properties let last month also fell, as reduced supply restricted choice for potential renters, according to the latest data from the Agency Express Property Activity Index.
The figures show that there was a 14.1% drop in national month-on-month figures for new listings ‘to let’ in April, while properties ‘let’ during the period fell by 9.9%.
Looking at performance across the UK, 11 of the 12 regions recorded by the Property Activity Index reported declines in both new listings ‘to let’ and ‘let by’.
The only region to buck the seasonal trend was Yorkshire and Humberside. Figures for properties ‘let’ sat at a robust 7.1%, the region’s largest increase for April since the index’s first records in 2012.
Regions to record the smallest declines in this month’s index:
Properties ‘to let’
Yorkshire & Humberside -7.5%
Scotland -8.4%
East Midlands -9.9%
West Midlands -10.7%
North East -11.3%
Central England -11.5%
Properties ‘let by’
Scotland -3.3%
South East -5.2%
West Midlands -6.8%
Wales -9.3%
East Anglia -9.4%
Central England -11.4%
The largest decline in this month’s index was recorded in London with new listings ‘to let’ falling to -25.6%.
While 2018’s figures did see an unseasonal spike in activity at 10.7%, looking further back we can see that this year’s activity has remained by and large on trend.
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