Signs Of Tenants Being Priced Out Of Major Cities

Sun 19 Mar 2023

Signs are emerging of tenants being priced out of major cities as rents rise and cost of living pressures continue, according to Rightmove.

The property portal said evidence suggested a greater proportion of renters were looking to move out of the city where they live than last year.

It said rental prices listed by landlords were up 12% in a year, and tenant demand was high.

The Rightmove data suggests 42% of renters are now looking to move out of the city in which they currently live, compared with 37% last year and 28% in pre-pandemic February 2020.

London is the most likely of the 10 British cities analysed to see this happening, followed by Sheffield and Manchester.

While flexible working will allow some people to move away from cities, the main drivers of the trend were rising rents and competition among prospective tenants for relatively few properties, it said. However, there were indications competition was starting to ease.

Edinburgh city centre has seen the largest increase in average asking rents compared with last year - up 19%, Rightmove said, followed by inner London and Manchester.

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