Rental demand plummeted in the last six months of 2024
Research shows people in England are less interested in renting as the last two quarters (Q3 and Q4) of 2024 saw a decline of 7.3%.
Zero Deposit, a rental deposit alternative service, have today published new research that shows demand for rented homes in England majorly dropped between Q3 and Q4 of 2024.
For reference, Q3 is comprised of the months July, August and September and Q4 is October, November and December.
To conduct the research, experts analysed requests for rentals based on the number of available properties that had already been agreed for let. Once completed, they found rental demand sat at 27.7% across the country, meaning it suffered a quarterly decline of 7.3%.
However, there is a silver lining. Experts outlined four English counties experienced a rental increase during the last quarter of 2024 with Somerset experiencing the biggest (3.2%) followed by Cornwall (2.8%), North Yorkshire (1.4%) and Warwickshire (1.1%).
Against this backdrop, London saw no change while every other county in the country reported a falling rental demand in Q4. The largest drop was experienced in Leicestershire were demand fell by 15%.
Commenting on the findings, Sam Reynolds, CEO of Zero Deposit, said: ‘A reduction in rental demand during the final quarter of last year may suggest that the current rental crisis is easing but this is far from the reality. The market continues to suffer from a severe imbalance when it comes to the demand seen for rental properties versus the supply of stock available across the market.
‘Despite this, the rental market isn’t immune to the seasonal trends that impact the rest of the property sector and so the decline in demand seen during Q4 can almost certainly be attributed to these seasonal factors.’
‘In the run up to Christmas many tenants will have already made their move and those who haven’t are more likely to put their plans on hold until the dust has settled on the festive period,’ Sam added. ‘Now that a new year is underway, we expect demand will once again start to climb and as tenants look to make their move.’
A full list of the findings can be accessed online here.
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