Landlords return as rental stock lifts in wake of market restrictions easing

May 21, 2020

In the wake of last week’s ease of property market restrictions, the number of rental properties hitting the market surged by as much as +44% in some UK cities as landlords returned and letting agents were able to resume business.

Howsy’s research analysed the number of available rental properties listed across the major portals the day after lockdown restrictions were eased across the UK property market, before comparing this to the number of properties listed in April.

The figures show that across 23 major UK cities, the number of rental properties now available to UK tenants has seen an immediate uplift of 5% on average. This increase has been driven by just seven cities, while the rest have seen further declines in rental stock levels.

The largest increase based on the sheer number of properties has been in London, with an additional 6,838 immediately hitting the portals, an increase of +15%.

In terms of percentage increases, Edinburgh has seen the largest influx with an uplift of +44%.

Cambridge has seen rental stock bolstered by +19%, with Aberdeen (+16%) also registering a double-digit increase.

Glasgow (+6%), Oxford (+5%), and Manchester (+0.2%) have also seen a lift in rental stock levels.

However, other cities are yet to see a knee-jerk market recovery, with Bristol seeing stock levels fall by -22% since April. Bournemouth (-17%) and Plymouth (-17%) have also seen some of the largest declines.

City
Total listings (April 2020)
Total listings (May 2020)
Total listings change
Total listings change (%)
Edinburgh
1,747
2,521
774
44%
Cambridge
679
810
131
19%
Aberdeen
1,084
1,256
173
16%
London
46,621
53,459
6,838
15%
Glasgow
1,591
1,690
100
6%
Oxford
1,385
1,460
76
5%
Manchester
5,149
5,160
11
0.2%
Birmingham
5,216
5,184
-33
-1%
Cardiff
2,642
2,508
-134
-5%
Newcastle
4,020
3,805
-216
-5%
Liverpool
3,393
3,164
-229
-7%
Swansea
1,281
1,188
-93
-7%
Belfast
26
24
-2
-8%
Portsmouth
1,034
943
-92
-9%
Southampton
2,888
2,619
-270
-9%
Nottingham
2,058
1,846
-213
-10%
Sheffield
3,127
2,797
-331
-11%
Leeds
5,794
4,981
-813
-14%
Leicester
2,218
1,906
-312
-14%
Newport
226
193
-34
-15%
Plymouth
1,147
951
-196
-17%
Bournemouth
1,295
1,073
-222
-17%
Bristol
1,887
1,481
-406
-22%
All cities
96503
101013
196
5%
Rental stock figures sourced from Rightmove and Zoopla
Figures compare online rental stock for each city from 1st April 2020 and 13th May 2020

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