Lack of supply and increasing demand could see rents rise in London in 2019

There was a noticeable increase in tenant demand in the London lettings market in 2018, outstripping supply for much of the year, setting the scene for rent rises next year, according to the latest annual overview. Supply was hit by a growing number of landlords selling their properties, often to owner-occupiers. This trend was not only evident across the London private rental market, but nationwide, says the report from letting agents Chesterton. Despite this, there was still plenty of activity with an increase in lets agreed over the summer months due to high demand and the number of agreed lets in the third quarter of 2018 was over 60% higher than in the same quarter of 2017.