The latest Rental Index from Goodlord, which analyses over 20,000 UK tenancies each month, has shown a strong picture for the rental market as voids hold steady and rents only drop marginally across the UK. 

A survey of 2,750 UK renters has revealed that huge swathes of tenants are anxious about meeting their rental obligations following the pandemic. Alongside this, large numbers are considering moving to a new property as working from home becomes the norm and financial situations shift, found our tenant survey for our latest State of the Industry Report. 

After a torrid 8 months, you could forgive the lettings market for feeling wary about the future. However, the latest State of the Industry Report for Summer 2020 from Goodlord paints a very different picture. Our detailed survey of over 350 lettings professionals has revealed that optimism is higher than pre-pandemic levels, with a huge 80% feeling positive about the future.

August proved to be another successful month for the lettings market shows the latest Goodlord Rental Index, as demand from students and young professionals continued to fuel the sector. Rents were up by 2% overall, although some regions fared better than others.  Void periods were up by an average of 2 days across the UK compared to July; reflecting an easing of the ‘rush to rent’ which characterised early summer. However, with void periods in most regions still well below their annual average, the market remains strong heading into autumn. 

The UK’s rental market continues to go from strength to strength, according to the latest Rental Index from Goodlord, with the ‘summer boom’ continuing throughout July.  The latest data shows rents up and voids dramatically down, as tenants continue to hunt out new leases following months of lockdown-induced delays.

Only 10% of lettings professionals want to go back to the office on a full-time basis at the end of the pandemic, found a recent poll conducted by Goodlord, which shows that many people have embraced the benefits of working from home during the Covid-19 pandemic. Almost half of poll respondents - 47% - said that would prefer to work from the office only if there was increased flexibility to work from home, while a further 24% said they would prefer to work from home on a part-time basis and 20% said they would prefer to work from home full-time. Although the poll included only a small sample size, the results are likely to reflect shifting views to remote working all over the world as a result of an extended lockdown.

Lettings market activity throughout June was significantly higher than recorded at the same time last year, the latest Rental Index from Goodlord has shown. As a result, rental costs are rising in the majority of regions and void periods are coming down, as tenants compete for new properties and the industry continues to see unprecedented demand after months of inactivity.

Almost half of property professionals describe the process of completing pre-tenancy admin as “painful”, Goodlord found in its State of the Industry survey. Forty percent of respondents said that completing pre-tenancy administration was “somewhat painful” and a further 8% said described it as “very painful”. 

The latest data from Goodlord shows a remarkable bounce back in lettings activity since restrictions around moving house were lifted on 13th May. The first day of June saw new tenancies applications soar above 2019 levels to 111%. Volumes of new tenancy applications have now risen by over 82% compared to the activity levels seen in mid-April. As the market has picked up, the average cost of rent has held fairly steady, although void periods have understandably fluctuated. 

The latest Goodlord Rental Index has shown rents dropping across five out of eight UK regions monitored during April, as the lockdown continues to impact the lettings markets. At the same time, void periods have shifted throughout the month, with some regions faring better than others. Overall, April saw volumes of new and completed tenancies drop rapidly in the run up to Easter before rebounding and finding equilibrium towards the end of the month.