A leading prime sector lettings agent has given details of how his segment of the market is operating.

Christian Lock-Necrews, a managing director at Winkworth in London, says that while tenant demand in the company’s prime network is rising significantly, the tenants involved are increasingly discerning.

He says they behave increasingly like buyers, comparing widely, negotiating firmly, and walking away from over-ambitious prices. 

But for those properties that have competitive asking rents, tenants move faster – these freshly instructed homes let at the full asking rent within around two weeks, he suggests. 

However, he adds: “Over £2,000 a week it’s really quiet. It’s not that the properties are wrong; some have let before at 20% more. It’s that fewer people can afford them.” 

The agency says that the price threshold is telling because £2,000 a week sits almost exactly where the Renters Rights Act stops applying. 

And the agency adds: “Below that line, tenancies now carry the flexibility the legislation was designed to give them; above it, the old contractual certainties remain — and the two sides of the market are beginning to behave differently as a result.”

Looking ahead, the agency says political and fiscal uncertainty continues to weigh on sentiment ahead of the Autumn Budget. 

However, with interest rates remaining on hold and needs-driven domestic buyers continuing to transact, it expects realistically priced homes to continue attracting demand in both the lettings and sales markets.