Rent prices

• The number of tenants experiencing rent rises increased in February, with 34 per cent of agents witnessing landlords increasing them, compared to 26 per cent in January
• This is the highest figure recorded since August, when 40 per cent of tenants had their rents increased, the highest on record
• Year-on-year, this figure is up 14 percentage points, from 20 per cent in February 2018 [Figure 1]
• In line with this, the number of tenants successfully negotiating rent reductions fell to 2.3 per cent, from 2.5 per cent in January

Figure 1: Average number of tenants experiencing rent hikes year-on-year

Landlords selling their buy-to-let

• In February, the number of landlords exiting the market rose to four per branch, after falling to three in January
• This is up from three last February.

Supply of rental stock and demand from tenants 

• Demand from prospective tenants fell in February, with the number of house-hunters registered per branch falling to 65 on average, compared to 73 in January
• The number of properties managed per branch remained at 197 in February, with no new properties coming onto the market.