Landlords in Somerset are having the easiest time finding tenants, research from Zero Deposit shows.
The firm measured rental demand across each county in England based on the number of available rental properties that have already seen a let agreed as a proportion of total rental stock available.
In Somerset – the county containing Bath – half (50%) of properties have been snapped up, followed by Bedfordshire (49%), Suffolk (49%), West Sussex (48%) and Essex (46%).
At 19%, West Yorkshire has the lowest level of rental demand at present, along with Nottinghamshire (20%), the City of London (20%), West Midlands (20%) and Leicestershire (21%).
Sam Reynolds, chief executive of Zero Deposit, said: “The final quarter of the year is often a more subdued one when it comes to rental market demand, with many tenants having already made their move early in the year, or deciding to wait until January arrives to do so.
“So it’s not surprising to see such a widespread reduction in demand levels on a quarterly basis.
“But despite these external factors, tenant activity remains robust across many areas of the market and landlords continue to benefit from high demand for their rental properties.
“This demand has, of course, been intensified by the ongoing imbalance between the sheer number of tenants within the market versus the level of rental market stock available.”
Across England 30% of all rental properties had already been snapped up by tenants.
However, as the market started to wind down for the Christmas break, this represented a reduction in demand to the tune of -9% versus the previous quarter and -4% annually.
