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New research has revealed that the London rental market has seen a quarterly increase in rental demand in Q1, as tenants return to the capital in 2022.

The research looks at the hottest spots of the London rental market based on the proportion of total rental stock currently available on the market that has already been snapped up by tenants, as well as how this demand has changed over time.

Returning Demand

LIS Show – MPU

The figures show that currently, London rental demand is at 42%, climbing 4% on the previous quarter as the previous exodus of London renters continues to reverse.

Waltham Forest has seen the largest increase in tenant demand, up +16% during the first three months of the year, with Redbridge (+12%), Barking and Dagenham (+11%), Havering (+11%) and Hounslow (+11%) also seeing some of the strongest uplifts.

In fact, just eight boroughs have seen a decline in rental demand since the end of last year, with the majority found within the prime London market.

Merton (-12%) has seen the largest quarterly decline, with Tower Hamlets (-4%), Islington (-3%), Southwark (-2%) Kensington and Chelsea (-2%), Kingston (-2%), Westminster (-1%) and Camden (-1%) also seeing a decline.

Rental Market Hotspots

Bexley, Waltham Forest and Bromley rank top for current rental demand, where 60% of all rental properties have already been snapped up during the first quarter of this year.

Havering and Sutton have also proved popular amongst the capital’s returning tenants with demand at 56% and 55% respectively.

Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster are currently the least in demand areas of the London rental market, with demand at just 15%.

Ahmed Gamal, Founder and CEO of Rentd, the leading rental portal behind the research, commented:

“The London rental market has been particularly hard hit during the pandemic and with a lack of both foreign and professional tenant demand, landlords have had to slash their rental price expectations simply to avoid long void periods with no income at all.

This has led to surges in demand over the last year as tenants have looked to take advantage of these much lower rental values but the London rental landscape has been unsettled, to say the least.

However, this year has brought a rejuvenated level of certainty to the market, spurred by a return to the workplace and an uplift in rental demand for London properties.

As a result, we’re seeing rental values return, and exceed, pre-pandemic levels in many parts of the market and this will be very welcome news for the capital’s landlords.”

Table shows current rental Sorted by quarterly change demand in each boroughs well as the quarterly and annual change
London Boroughs Current Demand (Q1, 2022) Quarterly Change Annual change
Waltham Forest 60% 16% 1%
Redbridge 50% 12% 2%
Barking and Dagenham 51% 11% -3%
Havering 56% 11% -13%
Hounslow 41% 11% -1%
Enfield 50% 10% -23%
Croydon 47% 10% -14%
Richmond upon Thames 47% 9% -6%
Sutton 55% 8% -21%
Bexley 60% 8% -7%
Harrow 41% 7% -9%
Bromley 60% 7% -11%
Barnet 35% 7% -12%
Newham 49% 6% 3%
City of London 27% 6% -7%
Ealing 33% 5% -4%
Hammersmith and Fulham 26% 5% -8%
Hackney 46% 3% 2%
Greenwich 52% 3% 9%
Brent 27% 3% -5%
Haringey 44% 3% -10%
Hillingdon 40% 3% -15%
Lewisham 54% 1% 4%
Wandsworth 44% 1% -7%
Lambeth 43% 0% -5%
Camden 24% -1% -8%
Westminster 15% -1% 0%
Kingston upon Thames 41% -2% -11%
Kensington and Chelsea 15% -2% -1%
Southwark 42% -2% -2%
Islington 48% -3% 4%
Tower Hamlets 33% -4% -4%
Merton 45% -12% -10%
London 42% 4% -6%
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