London letting agents face fiercest competition in 2024

The latest research by Zero Deposit, the tenancy deposit alternative, has revealed that London remains the most competitive region for letting agents, having seen the largest increase in the number of residential letting agents in the last year, while London letting agents also have the highest average number of current rental listings on the books versus every other region of Britain.

Zero Deposit analysed the number of residential letting agents across each region of Britain*, before looking at current rental market stock levels in each region* to determine where letting agents are having the busiest start to 2024 when it comes to available rental market stock.

The research shows that there are some 24,237 residential letting agents operating across Britain today. This number has increased by 3% year on year, with 601 more letting agents operating across the market versus January last year.

With 132,723 rental properties currently listed for rent, that equates to an average of five available properties per letting agent.

London, along with Wales, has seen the largest increase in letting agent numbers, up 4% year on year. However, this 4% increase is far greater in the capital, where it equates to an additional 232 letting agents, versus an increase of just 36 in Wales.

As a result, London remains the most competitive market for letting agents, with a total of 6,189 in business across the capital, by far the most of any region, with the South East sitting second with 3,967.

However, the research by Zero Deposit suggests that the London rental market is most in need of this year on year boost to letting agent numbers. There are currently almost 50,000 homes listed for rent across the capital, with again just the South East coming close to this level of rental market stock with 20,574 current listings.

As a result, the figures from Zero Deposit show that each of London’s 6,189 residential letting agents currently hold an average of eight available rental properties in the current market.

The East Midlands sits second in this respect, with the average agent currently listing seven rental properties, with the West Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber following with six and the South East completing the top 10 with five.

Sam Reynolds, CEO of Zero Deposit commented:

“Demand for rental homes remains high and we’ve seen the number of letting agents operating across Britain increase across the board in order to help service this demand.

London certainly remains the heart of the lettings market in this respect, with the capital not only home to the largest number of letting agents, but having also seen the largest increase in transaction numbers.

London’s letting agents have also had the busiest start to the year, currently listing the highest average number of available rental properties per agent of all regions of Britain.

Of course, this doesn’t take into account the resource requirements related to the ongoing management of these rental properties and they remain a vital cog in the machine of the nation’s rental market.”

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