Demand for city rentals high as workers return to offices

London E14 is most popular postcode for residential rentals

Demand for city rentals high as workers return to offices

Demand for quality rental accommodation in the city has far outweighed supply as workers are returning to their offices in droves, buy-to-let mortgage specialist Skipton International said.

According to the Guernsey-licensed bank, city residential rental property is still highly popular in the UK, citing findings of the latest Zoopla Rental Market Report that the average London rent in the first three months has increased by 15.7% compared to the same period a year ago.

The same report revealed that rental demand is particularly acute in city centres as students, office workers, and international demand returns.

Read more: What is the UK’s average monthly rent?

Although all major UK cities are seeing growth in demand, it is London leading the charge as monthly rents surge, Skipton noted.

Its own figures show that London E14 is the most popular London postcode to buy for rental purposes, closely followed by SW11 (Wandsworth) and W3 (Acton).

The popularity of E14 – London’s Canary Wharf, Poplar, and Limehouse region – has remained high, as it also topped Skipton’s 2021 buy-to-let mortgage charts too.

Lorraine McLean (pictured), mortgage manager at Skipton, said strong rental growth in the capital continues at a rapid pace, and their mortgage pipeline is currently breaking all previous records.

“While mortgage interest rates may be rising, it’s important to remember that over the last 10 years or so, the Bank of England has kept the base rate exceptionally low. When looking at long term trends, mortgage interest rates remain at a very low level,” she said.