New figures show the extent of the collapse in rental supply in recent years.

According to respected website Home, which produces a monthly snapshot of the rental and sales market, there were 96,000 properties available to rent across the UK in August 2019. In August 2024, however, there will be just 66,000, a decrease of 31%.

The result has been a steady rise in rents, but Home believes that current rental growth across the country is being dragged down by particularly weak performance in London.

According to the website, the annual growth rate of asking rents across the country is only 1.1 percent.

Wales continues to lead the regional growth table, followed by the South West with year-on-year increases of 14.5% and 11.7% respectively. Yorkshire and the North East also continue to record double-digit year-on-year growth.

The year-on-year decline in rents in Greater London is now -1.2%. In the capital, the boroughs of Bexley and Haringey have seen the largest declines in asking rents, with annual rent declines of 16.6% and 9.4% respectively. Declines have also been recorded in the East and West Midlands (-2.8% and -0.8% respectively).

On the selling side of the market, asking prices rose 0.2% across England and Wales last month – the seventh consecutive monthly increase – and are now 1.2% higher compared to August 2023.

Prices rose again in Wales, Scotland and all English regions, except in the North West and South East, where they remained unchanged.

The number of unsold sales inventory for England and Wales rose again last month, reaching a 10-year high in August. Agents’ portfolios have been expanded by nearly 6,000 properties, bringing the current total of unsold properties to 494,837.

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