Rental demand climbs 6% across the UK’s major cities

October 4, 2019

Innovative lettings management platform, Bunk, has released it’s latest look at the UK rental market and which cities are most in-demand amongst tenants and where has seen the largest uplift since Q2.

Bunk’s index looks at rental listings across all of the major property portals, taking an average demand score for the nation’s major cities based on where has the highest number of properties already let as a percentage of all rental listings.

The research highlights where the highest level of tenant demand currently is based on this supply/demand ratio.

The UK

The latest data shows that rental demand is up 6% quarter to quarter across the UK’s major cities and for the second quarter in a row, Bristol tops the table as the most in-demand location for rental properties. Tenant demand in Bristol is currently at 67.6%, having increased a further 17.5% since Q2.

Nottingham ranks second with demand for rental stock at 54.3%, followed by Cambridge with a demand score of 50%, as well as Bournemouth (42.9%) and Portsmouth (42.8%).

These five cities also account for the largest increases in tenant demand since Q2, with increases of between 11.2% and 18.7%.

Aberdeen remains the least in-demand city for rental demand at 8.9%, with Edinburgh (14.8%) and Newcastle (16.5%) also propping up the bottom of the table.

London 

London rental demand has shot up 8.2% since the second quarter of 2019 with Lewisham topping the table as the most in-demand borough at 48.4%. Bromley (46.2%), Bexley (43.7%), Havering (43.7%) and Islington (43.3%) are also amongst the most in-demand boroughs for tenant demand in Q3.

Islington has also seen the largest uplift in rental demand quarter to quarter, up 17%, while Sutton is the only borough to see a drop since Q2 – down -0.7%.

Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster and Camden are the boroughs home to the lowest level of current tenant demand at 13.4%, 15.4%, and 22.3% respectively.

Co-founder of Bunk, Tom Woollard, commented:

“We continue to see the UK rental sector acting as the backbone of the property market with demand for rental properties climbing yet again.

With the start of the university term, it’s no surprise that some of the UK’s most prominent university towns have seen some of the largest uplifts in rental demand as thousands of students look to secure a place to live while studying.

For buy-to-let landlords, it remains one of the most prominent factors when deciding where to invest in a property and it’s clear why. While you can have the best yields around, they’re not worth a penny without the tenant demand to fill a property and this demand is abundant around the likes of Bristol, Notts, Cambridge, and Bournemouth.”

Top Line
Q2
Q3
Change
UK Cities
25.2%
31.2%
6.0%
London
21.4%
29.6%
8.2%
Major UK Cities Ranked by Quarterly Demand Change
City
Q2
Q3
Change
Nottingham
35.6%
54.3%
18.7%
Bristol
50.1%
67.6%
17.5%
Cambridge
33.5%
50.0%
16.4%
Bournemouth
30.3%
42.9%
12.6%
Portsmouth
31.6%
42.8%
11.2%
Glasgow
25.4%
35.1%
9.7%
Leeds
15.5%
24.1%
8.6%
London
21.4%
29.6%
8.2%
Manchester
26.4%
32.7%
6.3%
Birmingham
23.1%
28.9%
5.9%
Southampton
24.0%
29.6%
5.6%
Liverpool
18.3%
22.9%
4.6%
Leicester
24.7%
29.1%
4.4%
Newcastle
13.9%
16.5%
2.6%
Plymouth
34.5%
36.4%
1.9%
Swansea
16.3%
17.9%
1.6%
Sheffield
22.0%
23.5%
1.5%
Newport
38.7%
40.1%
1.5%
Aberdeen
8.0%
8.9%
0.9%
Edinburgh
14.3%
14.8%
0.5%
Oxford
29.0%
28.8%
-0.3%
Belfast
21.2%
20.9%
-0.3%
Cardiff
21.1%
19.7%
-1.3%
London Boroughs Ranked by Quarterly Demand Change
London Borough
Q2
Q3
Change
Islington
26.3%
43.3%
17.0%
Lambeth
26.2%
41.7%
15.5%
Hackney
27.3%
41.4%
14.1%
Tower Hamlets
24.1%
36.3%
12.2%
Southwark
30.9%
41.5%
10.6%
Haringey
30.3%
40.2%
9.9%
Newham
28.1%
36.8%
8.7%
Enfield
27.1%
35.5%
8.4%
Barnet
19.8%
28.1%
8.3%
Greenwich
32.9%
41.0%
8.1%
City of London
21.1%
28.9%
7.8%
Brent
19.8%
26.7%
6.9%
Hammersmith and Fulham
17.4%
24.2%
6.8%
Wandsworth
29.6%
35.9%
6.3%
Westminster
9.7%
15.4%
5.7%
Lewisham
43.0%
48.4%
5.4%
Hillingdon
27.7%
32.5%
4.8%
Camden
17.9%
22.3%
4.4%
Kensington and Chelsea
9.1%
13.4%
4.3%
Bromley
42.0%
46.2%
4.1%
Bexley
40.1%
43.7%
3.6%
Ealing
21.2%
24.5%
3.3%
Harrow
22.9%
25.7%
2.7%
Merton
37.3%
39.9%
2.6%
Barking and Dagenham
31.2%
33.1%
1.9%
Croydon
36.1%
37.9%
1.8%
Richmond upon Thames
28.1%
29.6%
1.5%
Waltham Forest
38.7%
40.0%
1.3%
Hounslow
25.6%
26.8%
1.2%
Redbridge
31.0%
32.2%
1.1%
Kingston upon Thames
30.7%
31.8%
1.1%
Havering
43.2%
43.7%
0.5%
Sutton
42.5%
41.8%
-0.7%

Properganda PR

National and local media coverage for property businesses. Journo quotes delivered in minutes.

You May Also Enjoy

Home and Living

Best Budget Smartphones Under $200

In the rapidly advancing digital era, it’s no longer a luxury but a necessity to have a smartphone. Not everyone however needs or is able to pay hundreds of dollars for an expensive device. The good news is that there are numerous budget smartphones under $200 that provide great performance, decent cameras, and a long…
Read More →
Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Ten years on: More first-time buyers moving to cities while the coast stands still

New ten-year analysis of the property market shows that more first-time buyers are looking to move to cities, while the coast has seen no growth in new buyers First-time buyer demand to move to Great Britain’s 50 largest cities (excluding London) is up by 16% on average over the last ten years, with Dundee topping…
Read More →
Breaking News

Homeowners in England and Wales overvalue their properties by an average of 16%

Homeowners in England and Wales are overestimating the value of their property by an average of 16%, according to new figures. Data from Quick Move Now compares homeowner estimates with formal estate agent valuations and is broken down by both region and property type. Overall, homeowners overvalue in every single category.   Regional breakdown Region…
Read More →
Visual blemishes on Roads due to service upgrades
Estate Agent Talk

Emergency Sidewalk Repairs: When to Act and Who to Call

Sidewalks are the unsung heroes of city infrastructure—quietly assisting tens of millions of footsteps every day. But when they crack, disintegrate, or shift all of sudden, they might quickly turn out to be volatile liabilities. In a town like New York, in which pedestrian site visitors are constant and belongings proprietors are legally chargeable for…
Read More →
Breaking News

Reapit report reveals agents’ long-term market confidence amid legislative challenges

Despite the significant challenges posed by a shifting economic landscape and the largest wave of housing legislation in decades, estate and letting agents remain steadfast in their confidence about their long-term future in the industry. According to the first Reapit Property Outlook Report 2025, covering the full breadth of sales and lettings agency opinion countrywide,…
Read More →
Breaking News

Owner-Occupiers Drive Resilient Commercial Property Market

Buying Becomes 37% Cheaper Than Renting The latest Commercial Property Demand Index from specialist property finance expert, Rangewell, reveals that while investor appetite across the sector held steady in Q2, strong levels of owner-occupied commercial mortgage activity are helping drive market performance, as business owners increasingly move from renting to buying their long-term premises for…
Read More →