Lucy Morton, Head of Residential Agency at JLL and W.A.Ellis, comments: “Relocation searches increased by 50% from May to June which shows there is strong faith in the London market from blue chip companies, and that initial scaremongering about a mass exodus in the market has not slowed down the summer flow of expats coming to the UK in time for the start of the school year in September.
There are, however, many more properties coming to the lettings market than we would usually expect at this point in the year. This rise in instructions is undoubtedly due to vendors now looking for an alternative solution and wanting to take advantage of the strong lettings market. These clients are asking us to market for lettings either exclusively or alongside sales. Although this means there is greater supply and choice for tenants, some of our clients will still be looking to sell if / when the market changes.
To enable this flexibility, these landlords are requesting break clauses which are not popular with many tenants looking to find a long term home – this is particularly relevant for the corporate and relocation market. To the untrained eye, it looks as though there are many more properties to choose from; however, it is the landlords who want to let for the long term, particularly our investor clients, who are going to succeed with these tenants. They offer a three year commitment; with little flexibility for a landlord to break the terms of the lease – not ideal for those wanting to return to the sales market should things change imminently.
It is the sensibly priced properties and commercially minded landlords who are succeeding in securing tenants in this competitive market. With built-in annual rent reviews and guidance from our local experts, we are seeing many great lettings deals being done across the business. Lonres supported this at the end of last week reporting that there were 1,027 new instructions and 562 price reductions – over 100 more price reductions than the week before – proving that clients in central London are more in tune with market conditions.”
