Tenant demand increases in cities throughout the UK

According to the Barrows and Forrester Rental Demand Index, the level of demand across the third quarter of 2021 averaged 42.9% – a 9.9% increase in comparison to figures from the previous quarter and 6.8% higher than this time last year.

There has been a huge uplift in demand in most cities in the UK as people return to the office to work, go back into University and move out of the family home.

Rental demand rose by 22.1% in Cardiff and Glasgow, meaning these two cities had the largest quarterly uplift. Bristol rose by 21% and Edinburgh went up by 21.5%. Other cities that made it to the top 10 include Manchester (14.8%), Newcastle (11.2%), Southampton (10.9%), Plymouth (10.8%), and Birmingham (10.5%).

Rents rising at their fastest pace since 2008

Data reported by Zoopla has shown that tenant demand is outstripping supply and rents are rising up to 6% across the UK, marking the strongest growth in 13 years. Rental growth is partly due to the demand of higher-priced properties, showing that tenants are looking for more space and no longer accept sub-standard housing options.

What this means for ROOMS®, our landlords and our tenants

We are now seeing a huge demand for rooms, but tenants are now looking for more space to work, access to the town centre, they need amenities such a superfast broadband to work from home effectively, and so they are looking for a really high standard of accommodation.

At ROOMS® we insist upon high standards for our properties, so our tenants are happy and stay for a long time, we tend to not have very long void periods between tenants as our rooms are in such high demand, and we proactively maintain our properties to a really good standard by inspecting them regularly, communicating well with our tenants and responding quickly to any issues they may have. This sets us apart from the typical high street agent who may not have the time or the resources to put these practices into place.