UK rental supply drops dramatically

New rental properties listed by landlords in the UK in May fell by 15.4% compared to the previous month with 91% of towns and cities recording a fall in supply.The biggest fall in rental supply was in Worcester with a decline of 42.6% month on month, followed by Bedford with a fall of 41.7% and in Derby it was down by 41%, according to the figures from property crowd funding platform Property Partner.

Much of the decline is due to a rush of landlords putting rental properties on the market in April ahead of stamp duty changes, according to the firm’s report.It also shows that new listings fell so far in many areas of the country in May, that they actually dropped substantially below March levels, before the 3% stamp duty surcharge for additional homes came into force. As per experts, with high and rising demand, any prolonged fall in rental supply would only have negative consequences for tenants.