Havering showing rental growth
May 26th, 2021
Havering showing rental growth, despite inner London boroughs falling by at least 6%
A recent Zoopla report revealed an annual fall in rents that began before the onslaught of the pandemic in Edinburgh (1.8%), Greater Manchester (0.9%) and Greater Birmingham (0.8%).
This is evidently due to changing patterns in working and commuting, leisure and tourism, which eased rental demand in UK city centres.
What’s more, pockets of demand and rental performance have been redefined across inner and outer cities. For example, rents in central Birmingham fell by 3.4% in the year to December, but in the surrounding boroughs of Bromsgrove, Sandwell and Wolverhampton, rents rose by an average of 5%.
Rents in well-connected towns are also witnessing strong growth, such as Rochdale (8.2%), Hastings (8.0%), Southend (5.8%) and Newport in Wales (5.5%) – with demand buoyed by renters reprioritising their housing needs and location.
Across the UK as a whole, but excluding London, rents are running at 2.3%, matching pre-Covid levels, while demand is up 21% year-on-year.
Covid impact amplified in London
The report suggests demand in the capital was down 10% year-on-year in January, following the triple impact of working from home policies, reduced international travel, and halting of tourism.
In addition, Greater London rents have registered the steepest annual fall of 8.3% since the global financial crisis.
Zoopla says the fall in overall average rents is being exaggerated by declines in the higher value, more dense rental markets of inner London and Kensington & Chelsea (12.3%).
However, while rents are falling by at least 6% in most inner London boroughs, several outer London boroughs are still showing rental growth, such as Havering (2.6%) and Enfield (1.1%).
Kevan Wimborne
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