The number of properties for sale across the UK that were previously rented at some point in the last three years has risen considerably over the last year and has reached its highest level in a decade.  

Data from property consultancy Twenty Ci shows that in Q3 2024, 11.3% of all new properties listed for sale were found to have been available to rent at some point in the last three years. 

This number has increased considerably from 6.8% in Q3 2023 and from 8.9% in Q3 2019.    

In absolute numbers, a total of 456,902 properties came to market in Q3 24 across the UK, of which 51,684 were previously rented. In Q3 23, 419,807 properties were listed for sale with 28,507 having been prior rentals. In Q3 2019, 416,752 homes came to market and 36,964 had been previously let.  

The analysis showed this trend was most prevalent in Inner London. In Q3 2024, 47.2% of all new for-sale properties had been previously let, compared with 27.1% the previous year.   

While the trend is highly concentrated in Inner London, new figures show how every region of the UK saw an influx of previously rented properties into the sales market across July, August and September this year, compared with Q3 23.   

In the last ‘normal’ market of 2019, the figures show a similar picture with all regions having seen an uplift in the percentage of previously rented homes for sale with the exception of Scotland and Wales.   

Elsewhere in the latest Twenty Ci data, the number of ‘sales subject to contract’ increased by an enormous 23% in Q3 24 compared with the same period last year.

The UK-wide research showed 332,200 sales were agreed in Q3 24, which was 23% above 269,225 in Q3 23. 

This indicates that growth in transactions will continue into 2025 and shows that demand has remained unaffected by July’s parliamentary election. The findings are part of the latest quarterly Property and Homemover Report from the consultancy. 

All regions saw an uplift in sales agreed throughout the quarter, with the East of England and the East Midlands both experiencing increases of 28% compared with Q3 23. In terms of major cities to have benefited, Southampton, Peterborough and Birmingham saw the biggest percentage rises.