A lettings agency has identified where tenant demand is strongest right now – and where demand is lower than some agents might expect. 

The Barrows and Forrester Rental Demand Index monitors rental listings across England, taking an average demand score for each county based on which of them has the highest number of properties already let as a percentage of all rental listings. 

The analysis of all 49 English counties shows that, on average, 40 per cent of all rental properties listed on the market during the first quarter of 2022 had already been taken by tenants keen to kick off the new year in a new rental property. 

The most in-demand location is West Sussex where 69 per ent of all rental properties had been already let; close behind come Cornwall, Wiltshire, Suffolk, Bristol, the Isle of Wight and Dorset.

At the other end of the scale comes West Yorkshire where just 19 per cent of all listed rental properties has been taken by tenants.

Other areas with weak tenant demand include Leicestershire, the West Midlands, the City of London, Merseyside, Lancashire and the East Riding.

“Demand across more urban and industrialised areas of the country is still slightly more muted compared to pre-pandemic levels, while country and coastal pockets of the market continue to see very high demand” notes James Forrester, managing director of the agency. 

“It will be interesting to see how this balance shifts over the coming months as we expect that demand for rental properties across major cities, in particular, will start to build considerably.”