London’s super prime rental market sees demand surge

Activity in London’s the super prime rental market has hit a five-year high as more people opt to rent rather than buy property, amid political turmoil.

The number of tenancies agreed and volume of new prospective tenants registering in Q1 this year was the highest since 2014 in both prime central London and prime outer London, thanks in part to Brexit-related uncertainty that has boosted rental demand.

There were a total of 31 super-prime (£5,000-plus per week) tenancies agreed in London in the first three months of 2019, which is the highest figure on record for this period of the year.

Knight Frank reports that average rental values in prime central London increased by an average of 0.6% year-on-year and by 0.4% in prime outer London over the same period, in response to falling levels of supply, prompted by landlords seeking to sell their properties in response to recent tax reforms.

Both sales listings and lettings listings have seen large spikes over the last year. This volatility reflects how some landlords have attempted to sell in response to higher taxes but have returned to the lettings market after failing to achieve their asking price.

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