Lettings activity in December increased across the prime London market, according to data consultancy LonRes. 

There were rises in both new instructions and agreed lets.  

However, annual rental growth turned negative for the first time in more than four years.

LonRes data for December indicated an annual increase of 16.9% in lets agreed and a 59.1% increase in new instructions.  

The stock of available rental properties increased on an annual basis, with 36.6% more homes on the market across prime London at the end of December than a year earlier.

Average rental values fell by 0.6% on an annual basis, the first decrease since summer 2021.  

However, rents remain 31.2% above their 2017-2019 (pre-pandemic) average. 

Broken down by sub-market, prime central London has underperformed other areas in 2025, where average rents ended the year 19.5% up on their January 2020 level compared to 24.9% across all prime London.  

While inner prime and fringe have also seen rents fall back over the second half of 2025, a gap in relative growth to PCL remains.