Some London rents rising by a third in just a year, website claims

Rents across Greater London are up 21 per cent year-on-year according to the Home property website, which prepares a mon they market snapshot. 

Lack of supply is still a major problem but the pace of the rent hikes is slowing, says Home, especially in the more central boroughs, suggesting that affordability limits have been reached.

The current new growth leaders in asking rents are the outer London boroughs of Harrow, Redbridge and Brent which are all showing annual rent rises of breathtaking amounts - 34 to 35 per cent.

The website, which looks at the sales market as well as rentals, says the number of properties withdrawn from the sales market has been significant over recent months. 

It adds: “Many of these will have been channelled into the rental market, which seemingly has an insatiable appetite for new stock and strong returns. 

“This method of monetising unsold stock may therefore be regarded as a pressure release valve for the sales market should an excess of inventory become an issue.”

On the sales front, Home says stock levels are recovering following the unprecedented buying frenzy that occurred in 2021 and early 2022, but as yet remain below the 10-year average. 

“Marketing times are also returning to pre-COVID levels, further indicating a return to more normal market conditions” it notes. 

The current Typical Time on Market for unsold property has increased swiftly over recent months to 100 days, but this figure is 16 days less than in February 2020.