Rental Market Update – July 2013

Central London

It’s a busy summer, with our central London offices, in Kensington, Knightsbridge and Hyde Park, seeing strong demand, and as usual smaller 1 and 2 bed properties to rent in central London are especially popular.
Our Hyde Park lettings office is reporting that applicants are looking to rent apartments in Marylebone, Mayfair and close to Hyde Park in particular. As well as one and two bed properties (£500pw – £900pw) we’re also busy with families looking for large houses around Notting Hill.

This is also the start of “Student Season” with students looking for a home before the start of the university term in September. Students like new-build apartments in Paddington, Regents Park and Fitzrovia due to proximity to Colleges but also rental properties in Notting Hill are another favourite, with students getting together to share properties with three or four double bedrooms.

The relocation market is getting busier and again the focus is on Marylebone, Mayfair and Hyde Park. We’re starting to see shortages of housing stock in these areas.

Demand remains high at our Ealing letting office at St George’s Dickens Yard development. Rental apartments at Dickens Yard are letting quickly and the office has seen an increase in enquiries this month, again with one and two bed rental apartments in Ealing leading the field.

We’re also busy with corporate lets and relocation agents and again we’ve seen an increase in enquiries this month.

The City, Canary Wharf and Docklands

Mid-priced rental properties in the City and Canary Wharf are letting very quickly, particularly properties up to £500pw. Applicant levels are good and we also have good, well priced stock coming in.

The corporate market remains busy too, with enquiries coming in particularly for properties priced between £600-£1200pw. Apartments to rent in Canary Wharf are high on most wish lists but tenants are also happy to move slightly further out as long as the property is within a 20 minute commute of Canary Wharf.

We’ve just been instructed on 80 rental properties in Stratford and these are creating significant interest amongst applicants who are looking to rent an apartment in the wider Docklands area. We have one and two bedroom units, both furnished and unfurnished and they’re just six or seven minutes walk from Stratford tube station. They’re brand new, have concierge, wood floors and keenly priced so are letting very quickly as they’re exactly what tenants are looking for at the moment.