London’s rental market has shown resilience with rental prices in August 2023 being 11% higher than the same period last year, according to a new report from Foxtons. This trend marks the third consecutive month of high average weekly rental prices.
Despite the uptick in prices, the volume of new listings in August dropped by 7% from July. However, it was up 8% compared to 2022, totaling over 35,000 new instructions. Notably, over 10% of these new listings were concentrated in the borough of Westminster.
Applicant demand in August increased 6% month-on-month, reaching the largest volume of registrations for 2023 so far. But the total volume of applicant registrations decreased 9% year-on-year. On the other hand, the number of new renters per new instruction was 23 on average, an 11% increase from July but a 17% decrease from August 2022. East London saw a remarkable 46% month-on-month increase in the number of new renters per new instruction, with an average of 38.
“August remained in line with our expectations and there was gradual, steady market growth throughout the year,” said Gareth Atkins, managing director of lettings at Foxtons. “Compared to July, demand rose, supply fell and prices remained consistently high. However, competition was not nearly as frenetic as it was in 2022 and as such, we have not seen further significant price increases.”
Sarah Tonkinson, managing director of institutional PRS and build to rent at Foxtons, also weighed in. “August had, as it always does, the largest volume of registrations of any month this year,” she said. “Prices remained immovably high, and year to date, London is seeing its highest average rent prices in the last three years.”
According to Foxtons’ data analysis, London renters have been working with higher budgets, which increased 7% compared to last year. The report found that in August, applicants were spending on average 100% of their rental budgets to secure a tenancy.
