Rental Market Will Remain Buoyant in Coming Months Predict Aston Chase

The rental market in London has remained buoyant since the Coronavirus outbreak and will continue to be active in the coming months reveals estate agent Aston Chase. Over the past weeks, Aston Chase have seen continuous activity in St John’s Wood, Hampstead, Little Venice and Queen’s Park via virtual viewing platforms and online marketing and predict this will continue.

Since stricter measures were introduced by the Government on 23rd of March 2020, Aston Chase have received 89 new enquiries on rental properties which is significantly higher in comparison to the same period of time in 2019. They have also received a high number of tenancy extension enquiries. These increases owe to people having more time to browse properties online as they work from home, short term and long-term tenancies coming to an end meaning people are unable to move as well as overseas tenants not wanting to, or being unable to, return to their homes abroad resulting in them renting in London.

Aston Chase note that the market will shift in the coming weeks and months. Casual renters who are looking to upsize or upgrade will become inactive in the market, people who will lose jobs due to the virus may move out of London and there will be fewer international relocations. This will create a supply in the market. However, the market will be balanced by an increase in domestic based tenants who want to delay buying or now cannot buy due to the economic impact of COVID-19 and distressed sellers who can now not find anywhere to purchase.

Aston Chase reveal that furnished properties are proving to be more popular than unfurnished as people are concerned about the logistics of moving furniture and unlike the majority of second-hand sales properties, rental properties are often vacant and can therefore be marketed and moved into during the Coronavirus pandemic.