A new agency index looking at luxury rental properties across 10 major global cities shows the extent of London’s listings drought.

In terms of costs, New York and London lead the rankings in the new Knight Frank index with rents up 38.5 and 26.4 per cent respectively in the year to Q1 2022, although this largely represents a return to pre-Covid levels. 

Toronto (up 17.2 per cent) and Singapore (up 10.8 per cent) also registered double-digit rental growth on an annual basis. 

Key to this trend, says the agency, has been the lifting of Covid restrictions and a lack of supply, in part borne out by the sales boom which motivated some landlords to sell, not rent, during the pandemic. 

In London’s case the fall in supply was far greater than in Manhattan, the agency points out.

Hong Kong is the only city to see prime rents decline over a quarterly basis, down 1.1 per cent in the three months to March 2022. A new wave of Covid-19 infections and the resulting border closures saw domestic tenants the only source of demand. 

In prime central London, Knight Frank suggests there are early signs that supply may be slowly picking up as prices soften and disappointed vendors unable to achieve their price ambitions opt to let out their home instead.