London lettings boom as demand pushes up rents
LONDON’S lettings market remains buoyant with a surge in tenant demand pushing rents in the capital higher.
Forty three per cent more chartered surveyors in London reported a rise in demand for property rather than a fall, up from 37 per cent in the first quarter, according to the latest RICS residential lettings survey for May to July.
The difficulty of securing mortgage financing is continuing to persuade higher numbers of people to rent, rather than buy, found the survey, which says 76 per cent more surveyors reported a rise in rents than a fall.
Just a year ago the picture was very different, as oversupply pushed rents down and more surveyors reported falling not rising rents. A majority, 68 per cent more surveyors expect rents to increase over the next quarter.