Birmingham has seen the biggest rise in rental demand in 2021 with a 25.2% rise in demand for rental homes
The rental market across the UK’s major cities has started to pick up as the country begins to move out of lockdown, according to research from estate and lettings agent Barrows and Forrester.
The latest market data from the firm reveals that there has been a sharp rise in tenant demand for rental properties across the UK’s major cities.
Demand for rental homes now sits at 37.6% for the first quarter of the year, having jumped 10.4% since the final quarter of last year.
Of all major cities Birmingham has seen the biggest rise in rental demand in 2021 with a 25.2% rise in demand for rental homes and 46.7% of all properties on the market being snapped up by tenants.
Bournemouth has also seen a considerable rise, up 23.3% between Q1 of this year and Q4 of 2020.
Cardiff (18.6%), Southampton (16.8%) and Newport (16.4%) also rank among the top five cities with largest uplifts in rental demand.
Just Liverpool and Belfast have seen rental demand fall during the first quarter of this year, down 2.3% and 15.8% respectively.
James Forrester, managing director of Barrows and Forrester, said: It’s been a very tough year for landlords and many have seen their rental income reduce due to tenants falling on tough financial times, while others have struggled to find a tenant in the first place.
As a result, early signs of rental demand returning to the market will be very welcome indeed and, as we ease out of lockdown, this is a trend we will hopefully see increase throughout the remainder of the year, he said.
He said that the green light for some university students to return and the fast-approaching start of a new academic year should further boost this initial increase in demand and so things are certainly starting to look up for the UK rental sector.
