New analysis from Rightmove has revealed Britain’s most competitive rental hotspots during the busiest months of the year for the rental market – July and August.

The portal says the findings highlight how intense competition for rental homes remains across parts of Britain, even as rental supply and demand conditions continue to rebalance compared with the record highs seen in previous years.

While average advertised rents remain at record levels nationally, (current national average rent £1,580 per calendar month), the pace of rent growth has continued to slow, as competition has eased and improving supply gives tenants more choice than during the pandemic-era peak.  

Across Britain, rental properties attracted an average of 11 enquiries each during July and August, typically the busiest months of the year for the rental market.

While this is lower than the 12 enquiries recorded during the same period last year and significantly below the peak of 28 in July and August 2022, it remains above the pre-pandemic average of eight enquiries per property during the summer months.

An enquiry is measured by a prospective tenant phoning or emailing a letting agent to request to view a property to rent. 

Rightmove’s analysis ranked 1,000 locations across Great Britain and ranked them by the number of enquiries each available rental listing received.

Average rental competition across Great Britain