London renters are struggling to find housing after a record number of houses and flats went under the hammer. The numbers were down 58% year-on-year to 2,509 in Islington. The City was down 54% to 375 and Lambeth was down 53% to 2,834. The smallest drop was in Bexley where 633 properties were available for rent. This is compared to the 54% reduction in the City’s rental market to 2,509 last year. And the 54% reduction to 375 in the City. Meanwhile, the 53% decrease to Lambeth at 2,834 has caused a rush to rent homes. Renters in London are not moving as much as they can, due to the rising rent prices. It’s bad news to people who have to move due to changes in their circumstances or an eviction notice. They cannot compete with those who choose to move and can afford more. The government must do more to build more social housing in London and increase Local Housing Allowance to ensure renters on benefits don’t get excluded from the market. “Lucian Cook from Savills’ residential research said that London’s rental market has seen unprecedented swings in supply and demand. “In 2020, we saw demand from key buyer group dry up and unlet inventory build up dramatically. Stock previously on the short-term rental markets also hit the books for letting agents. We were all surprised at the speed and extent of this change. Tenants are often finding themselves in a competitive environment and needing to look in multiple locations to find a rental. “Separate figures from Rightmove show that tenants are finding themselves in a competitive bidding environment and having to look across multiple locations in order to secure a rental. Knight Frank, rival agents, said that they had seen even greater growth with rents rising by 23.3 percent in central London and 19% in outer London. Knight Frank said that while there were some instances of rents rising in central London by 23.3% and 19% in outer London, there was still a lot of imbalance in the overall picture. This should continue to increase rental prices for a while.
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