Woman looks at estate agent ads
(Picture: DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images)London tenants are facing a desperate struggle to find places to live after an unprecedented slump in the number of flats and houses on the market.
The number of rental properties available in the capital last month was down 44 per cent on 2021, and 25 per cent below levels seen before the pandemic, according to new data compiled for the Standard.
Numbers are down in all 32 boroughs, and the City of London, with some of the most popular places to live such as Islington, Lambeth, Hackney and Camden seeing disastrous falls of more than 50 per cent compared with last year.
Experts say a double whammy of landlords pulling out of the market because of tax and regulatory changes, combined with a backlog of young workers returning to live in the capital after the pandemic has created a perfect storm in the rental market.
The figures from analysts TwentyCI shows that 74,766 residential properties were available for letting in London in March, compared with 132,964 in the same month last year, and an average of 100,274 between 2018 and 2020.
The biggest fall was in Islington where they were down 58 per cent year on year to 2,509, followed by the City, down 54 per cent to 375, and Lambeth, 53 per cent lower at 2,834. The smallest fall was in Bexley.
The shortfall has sent rents to record levels with double-digit increases being pushed through to tenants, worsening the cost of living squeeze.
It represents a dramatic turnaround since the lockdowns when many landlords struggled to find tenants as thousands lost their jobs or went on furlough and returned to live with their parents.
Dan Wilson Craw, of campaign group Generation Rent, said: “The rush of people returning to London since summer 2021 has seen homes to rent gobbled up as soon as they list.
“It’s bad news for people who have to move because of changed circumstances, and cannot compete with people who are choosing to move and can afford to pay more. The Government has to do more to get more social housing built in London.”
Lucian Cook, of Savills, said: “London’s rental market has never before seen such dramatic swings in the balance between supply and demand.”
Separate figures from property portal Rightmove showed that the length of time taken to find a tenant has fallen from 36 days to 17 days over the past year. The agents said that rents are up 11 per cent in prime locations, the first double-digit growth since 2010.
