Foxtons Lettings Market Index – August 2026
The busiest weeks arrived earlier than usual, with activity spread more evenly across the summer
due to implementation of the RRA
• Renter registrations eased 3.0% in August. Along with July, it was still the peak of 2026, finishing
off the summer rush just below July’s levels.
• Competition for available property rose 22.4% in August to 24 renters registering per new
instruction, the highest point of 2026.
• Market new listings ran 2.9% ahead of last year, with August 5.2% below July.
The London lettings market spent two years braced for the Renters’ Rights Act. Four months in, the
largest change to the lettings year is that its busiest weeks arrived earlier than usual, with activity
spread across July and August rather than peaking in the final weeks.
Market new listings ran 2.9% ahead of last year, with August 5.2% below July. Every month of 2026
produced more listings than the same month in 2025. Supply grew through the run-up to the Renters’
Rights Act and through the first months under it, which is the clearest evidence available that landlords
have stayed in the London market.
Very little else changed. Renter registrations came in below the exceptional volumes of 2025, while
competition for each available property across the year to date held level with last year at 17.9 renters
per new listing, and what renters were prepared to pay rose 0.9%. Supply grew again, with market new
listings 2.9% ahead of last year and every month of 2026 producing more than the same month in
2025.
Renter registrations eased 3.0% in August. Along with July, it was still the peak of 2026, finishing off
the summer rush just below July’s levels. Year to date, registrations ran 12.3% below 2025, a year of
exceptional applicant volumes across London. West London ran against the trend, up 5.2% on last year.
Competition for available property rose 22.4% in August to 24 renters registering per new instruction,
the highest point of 2026. As with applicant demand, West London carried the largest rise, at 20.9
against 18.0. Every property that came to market in August met the deepest pool of applicants of the
year.
Renter budgets averaged £571 per week in August, 1.9% below July, with the year-to-date figure at
£561, up 0.9% on 2025. Central London led at £632 a week, up 4.2%, and West was the only area below
last year, down 2.2%. One-bedroom flats carried the largest movement of any property type, up 3.4%.
What renters were prepared to pay remained steady this year.
Gareth Atkins, Managing Director of Lettings, said:
“Across 2026, competition for London rental
property remained steady at just under 18 renters per new listing. What changed was when demand
arrived. The Renters’ Rights Act appears to have brought some moves forward, particularly among
students, spreading activity more evenly across the summer and easing the traditional August peak.
For landlords, that meant a longer letting window. Whether this is a lasting shift remains to be
seen, with 2026 likely a year of adjustment rather than a new normal.”
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