ARLA: Tenant numbers continued to rise during June

The number of new prospective tenants continued to rise during June, following the government’s COVID-19 lockdown, according to the ARLA Propertymark June Private Rented Sector (PRS) report.

It revealed that the average branch registered 79 new tenants per branch, compared to 70 on average in May.

Year-on-year, this figure is the highest recorded for the month of June, with a previous record of 71 in June 2019. However, this is still down on pre-lockdown figures when there was an average of 82 prospective tenants registered per branch in February.

Similarly, the number of rental properties on the market in June continued to pick up.

The number of properties managed per branch reached an all-time high for the month of June 3, with an average of 200 properties managed per letting agent branch.

This is down slightly from 208 in May, but still sets the market up for an active summer compared to the usual seasonal lull. Regionally, Yorkshire & Humberside saw the highest number of properties managed, with an average of 264 per branch and Wales had the lowest number of properties on their books, with an average of just 104 per branch.

The number of tenants experiencing rent rises increased in June, with 295 of agents witnessing landlords increasing rent compared to just 14% in May. However, this is still the lowest number of rent increases for the month of June since 2016.

Phil Keddie, president of ARLA Propertymark, said: “Our latest figures show that the rental market is continuing to pick up following the COVID-19 lockdown.

"The record-breaking supply of rental stock and demand from tenants for this time of year paints an optimistic picture for the summer months, indicating that the market will be more active than the usual seasonal lull.

"As the market continues to recover from the pandemic, it’s essential that everyone continues to keep up with their rent in order to sustain the market and help boost the economy during these uncertain times.”