UK renters are facing less competition for homes, with the lowest level seen in six years. According to Zoopla’s latest Rental Market Report, rents for new lets have risen by just 1.9% over the past year.
The easing of competition comes as renter demand has fallen by 14% over the last 12 months, while the number of available rental properties has increased by 11%. As a result, the average number of enquiries per property has dropped to 4.8, down from 6.5 a year ago, indicating a more balanced rental market after the peak competition seen in 2022 and 2023.
Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla, said: “Market conditions for renters are the best they have been for 6 years.. The rental market is moving back towards balance as demand cools and more homes become available to rent. Renters are facing less competition for homes and slower rent increases than in recent years. Localised changes in demand and supply are resulting in rents falling in some cities but this will be only a short lived trend.
“The rental market is moving back towards balance as demand cools and more homes become available to rent. Renters are facing less competition for homes and slower rent increases than in recent years.
“However, supply remains well below pre-pandemic levels, which means increasing the number of rental homes remains key to improving affordability for the UK renters over the long term.”
Lower demand for rented homes is being driven primarily by improving conditions in the mortgage market for first-time buyers and a continued slowdown in migration to the UK for work and study. Latest ONS estimates show net migration peaked at 944,000 in the year to March 2023 but fell to 204,000 in the year to June 2025.
With around three-quarters of first-time buyers leaving the rental market, more favourable mortgage conditions have increased buyer numbers, easing pressure on rental demand and freeing up more properties for rent. Additional supply has also come from would-be sellers placing their homes on the rental market, particularly those struggling to sell.
These changes mean properties are taking longer to let. On average, finding a tenant now takes 20 days — a week longer than 2022’s peak of 13 days. For renters, this translates into greater choice and more room for negotiation.
As a result, rental growth for new lets has slowed to 1.9% over the past year, down from 2.9% a year ago. Earnings have continued to rise faster than rents over the last 18 months, improving affordability for renters. Outside London, the annual rent for the average property now accounts for 33.5% of a single person’s gross income, down from 35% in 2023 — the highest level in 20 years.
Rental growth remains strongest in more affordable markets in Northern England and Scotland, with cities such as Liverpool and Newcastle seeing increases of 4.6% and 4.5% respectively.
In contrast, several cities across the Midlands and Southern regions are seeing lower or even negative price growth, with Bristol growing at 0.8%, Cambridge at just 0.1%, and the likes of Birmingham (-0.7%) and Nottingham (-0.8%) actually falling. In London, rents are growing at a relatively low 1.7%, with the average rent now sitting at £2,187.
The data also reveals bigger fluctuations by region in terms of price growth, with Wales seeing a drop of -1.7% YoY from 4% to 2.3%, while the West Midlands region has fluctuated even more from 3.8% last year to 0.3%. This low growth reflects weaker rental demand in these areas, but is predicted to be short term, as local markets adjust to more balanced conditions.
Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark, commented: “The rental market continues to bring challenges that are tightly aligned to both fundamental economic pressures and new influence from updated legislation. We are witnessing some of the biggest changes in well over 30 years, with the introduction of additional consumer protections, plus a modified taxation framework for landlords.
“We currently have a rental landscape where demand for properties continues to outstrip available stock. Any reported uplift regarding additional rental properties being available must closely acknowledge the scenario of there still being intense pressure on supply. In addition, when looking at the latest data available, Propertymark members report a near 7% increase in the number of landlords who have chosen to sell their properties year on year.”
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