Rental stock plummets in Q3 – as renters face strong competition for properties

By Ryan Bembridge

Rental stock across major cities halved between the second and third quarters, suggesting landlords are now in the driving seat when negotiating with tenants.

Available stock dropped to 57,382 in the third quarter of 2021, down from 116,007 in Q2, research from Sequre Property Investment shows.

There’s been a consistent decline since Q4 2020 when renters were spoilt for choice, with 171,080 homes to choose from.

At the end of Q4 2019 before the pandemic struck there were a total of 96,735 rental properties listed to let, as vacancies rose during the pandemic before falling this year.

Daniel Jackson, sales director at Sequre Property Investment, said: “2020 was an incredibly tough year for landlords, particularly those with rental properties in major cities who were largely reliant on tenant demand from working professionals.

“With restrictions preventing many from heading to their place of work, demand for rental homes within city centres plummeted as many chose to rent for less further afield while working remotely.

“However, 2021 has seen a slow but steady reduction in the level of rental properties left sat on the market as a trickle of tenant demand has started to return. However, the latest data suggests that with restrictions all but gone, this trickle has turned into a strong and consistent stream and available rental stock is now lower than pre-pandemic levels.

“This will be welcome news for those landlords who will no longer need to lower their rental income expectations in order to secure a tenant and we should now see a far greater level of stability remain for the remainder of the year.”

Such has been the decline in rental stock between the second and third quarters, every single city in the study saw a reduction in available properties.

However there are fewer rentals in some areas than others.

In Edinburgh there are just 360 available rental properties as of Q3, down from 1,727 in Q2.

And in nearby Glasgow it’s a similar story, with stock falling from 1,538 to 582.

In England what’s notable is the largest cities are seeing some of the biggest reductions in tenant choice.

In Leeds for example rental stock has fallen from 5,544 in Q2 to 1,944 in Q3.

Similarly there’s been a big reduction in Manchester, from 5,236 in Q2 to 2,986 in Q3, as well as Birmingham, from 5,131 to 2,779.