• In February, the number of new prospective tenants rose for the second month in a row
• Half of agents saw landlords increasing rent in February
• The number of properties managed per branch decreased in February

Demand from tenants

• The average number of new prospective tenants registered per branch continued to rise in February to 82, from January’s figure of 81.
• Year-on-year this remains the same as February 2020 but is a huge leap from the previous February figure of 65 in 2019.
• Regionally, The West Midlands had the highest number of new tenants registered per branch with an average of 126, with the East Midlands having the second highest of 123 new tenants.
• Northern Ireland and The Isle of Wight both recorded the lowest number of new prospective tenants, with an average of 26 registered per branch in February.

Rent prices

• The number of tenants experiencing rent increases jumped in February as half (49 per cent) of agents saw landlords increasing rent compared to 39 per cent in January.
• Year-on-year this figure is also up from 40 per cent in February 2020.
• The number of tenants successfully negotiating rent reductions remained the same at two per cent in February. Year-on-year this is the same as during February 2020 when the figure also stood at two per cent.

Supply of rental stock

• The number of properties managed per letting agent branch fell for the third month in a row from 196 in January to 195 in February.
• Regionally, the North East had the highest number of properties managed per letting agent branch with a figure of 284.
• However, rental stock was the lowest in London with an average of 94 properties managed per branch.

Landlords selling BTL properties

• The number of landlords selling their buy-to-let properties remained the same for the fifth month in a row, at four per branch in February.
• Year-on-year this figure is slightly lower than the February 2020 figure of five.