Supply of rental stock and demand from tenants

• The supply of properties available to rent rose to 203 per member branch in March, from 197 in February – the highest since records began in 2015.
• Year-on-year, supply is up 13 per cent, compared to 179 per branch in March 2018.
• Demand from prospective tenants also increased, with the number of house hunters registered per branch rising to 67 on average, compared to 65 in February.

Rent prices

• The number of tenants experiencing rent rises fell marginally in March, with 30 per cent of agents witnessing landlords increasing them, compared to 34 per cent in February.
• Year-on-year, this figure is up 30 per cent, from 23 per cent in March 2018.

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

Landlords selling their buy-to-let

• In March, the number of landlords exiting the market remained at four per branch. This is up from three last year.