Over the past year as England has been subject to several national lockdowns, we have previously reported on a reduction in demand across city center rental properties and as such have encouraged rental flexibility between Landlords and Tenants.
As England’s 3rd lockdown now has an end date in sight – and with vaccinations across the country continuing – Rightmove has reported that demand for city center living is on the rise. This is echoed here at X1 with the 10% increase in enquiries for city-center flats to rent we have seen within our portfolio.
Insights from property portal Rightmove have echoed the same with a 69% increase in demand for properties to rent in Manchester.
Liverpool has also seen a similar uplift in enquiries sitting at 51% and the data outlines the growth amongst people looking to move back to urban areas as restrictions on social distancing / social gatherings are now easing.
What will happen when it comes to rental prices?
Rental prices in Manchester are presently down 7% compared with previous periods and rents in Leeds down on average 5%.
Lockdown restrictions are continuing to ease across the country with the end date (UK roadmap) provisionally confirmed as 21st June. A secondary effect of this being that working from home is no longer the norm and the commute back to the office will resume.
With the above trend and growth of ‘would-be renters’ looking to move back to the city-center locations , we remain confident that the city center lifestyle is set to become desirable once again.
As demand continues its upward growth, we would expect to see prices rise similarly.
We are confident that patterns will continue to evolve and with the re-opening of pubs, bars, and the option to begin socialising without restrictions, rental prices will begin to grow whilst available properties & voids will see a reduction.
The tide is only just beginning to turn and at this time, we would encourage rental flexibility to continue along with 3 month tenancy offerings.