Letting market activity picking up momentum

There has been an improvement in the letting market, according to board company Agency Express.

The number of new rental property listings increased by 13.16% during February compared to the previous month, while the volume of properties ‘let’ was up 4.8% during the same period, fresh data from the Agency Express Property Activity Index shows.

However, year-on-year comparisons suggest that figures for both ‘to let’ and ‘let’ properties in February fell slightly compared with the same month in 2017.

Looking at performance across the UK, all 12 regions recorded by the Property Activity Index reported increases in new listings to let, while eight of the 12 saw a hike in properties let. 

February’s top performing region was the North East, with new homes to let increasing by 56.6% month-on-month, while properties let rose to sit at 34.4%. However, looking back at the index’s historical data we can see that this year’s figures are still lower than those recorded 12 months previous.

Here are the prominent performing regions:

Properties ‘to let’

• Scotland 37.70%
• South West 17.90%
• Central England 12.00%
• South East 11.00%
• Wales 10.40%
•  

Properties ‘let by’

• South West 9.60%
• London 9.20%
• Wales 9.10%
• Yorkshire & Humberside 6.70%

The largest decline in this month’s index was recorded in the East Midlands.

Commenting on the latest report, Stephen Watson, managing director of Agency Express, said: “Historically we see a bounce in activity throughout March and this month’s lettings activity has been fairly steady. However, as our report has highlighted year-on-year figures have started to wane.”

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