Rents starting to moderate in outer London says lettings trade body

The National Landlords’ Association is reporting that around 16 per cent of its members in outer London have reduced rents over the last year - although a higher proportion have increased rents. 

It says its research shows that the proportion of landlords who have been able to increase rents in outer London - 23 per cent - is the second lowest in the UK over the same period.

The outer London position is more stable than other areas within commuting distance of the capital: for example, whereas outer London has a net proportion of landlords increasing their rents in 2017 as seven per cent, in the East of England and South East it reaches 44 per cent and 29 per cent respectively.

The association says its findings continue a trend noticed by the NLA early last year, where tenant demand in Greater London dropped from 45 per cent to 17 per cent.

“These findings do not mean London is suddenly going to become more affordable for renters, but it seems to confirm that the trend of a softening of tenant demand in the capital is well-established” the NLA website quotes association chief executive Richard Lambert as saying.

“Both landlords and tenants are continuing to look outside of the capital to other centres and areas commutable to London which, if anything, will only serve to push up prices in those regions”.