Newport in Wales is the worst served city for rental stock.
Across the UK’s major cities, an average of 33.2% of all stock is listed to let rather than buy according to Howsy.
Across London’s boroughs, this number increases to 37.1%.
Howsy analysed property listings across the major platforms to calculate the data.
Calum Brannan, founder and chief executive of Howsy, said: “This data not only suggests where tenants might struggle to find a place to rent due to an imbalance of rental to sale stock but perhaps also where we has seen the largest exodus of buy-to-let landlords due to recent changes in legislation with lettings stock dwindling while the amount of property for sale increases.
“It makes sense that in cities dominated by industry, such as Aberdeen or Newcastle, and in those with the least affordable price tags, such as London and Oxford, there is a higher tendency to rent and therefore more rental properties as a proportion of all homes listed.
“However, it also highlights that in areas such as Newport, Bristol and Glasgow where rental stock is very low, there is a real opportunity for the professional buy-to-let landlord due to a higher level of tenant demand with a lower investment cost.
“Whichever way you look at it, we’re seeing a shift in lifestyle trends towards a greater acceptance of renting on a longer-term basis with the scramble to own our own homes taking a back seat, and so it’s important that the level of rental stock available is cultivated to meet demand across the UK.”
The worst served city for rental stock is Newport in Wales where just 13.5% of properties listed are to rent, with Bristol at 15.8%.
This was closely followed by Glasgow at 16.4%, representing the lowest figure across Scotland.
Aberdeen has the highest number of rental properties listed across the UK, with 62.2% of all properties listed on property portals to rent.
Newcastle ranks second with 53.5% followed by Oxford (47.3%) and London (42.1%).
