Rental availability across England fell 12.1% in the third quarter of 2026 compared with a year earlier, according to analysis by Dwelly.
The group describes itself as one of the UK’s largest rental property management businesses, with more than 15,000 properties under management, and says the drop points to tougher competition among tenants in many areas.
Available rental listings have fallen an average of 6.5% a quarter since the start of 2026. Dwelly reads that as evidence of a wider trend rather than an isolated quarterly movement.
Dwelly says it uses its own AI-powered technology to cut the administrative workload at the agencies it has acquired, giving agents more time to handle tenant enquiries, build landlord relationships and market available properties. The group argues that AI adoption is becoming more important for letting agents adjusting to local supply and demand, which vary from one area to the next.
Rental availability falls across major urban markets
Some of the largest average quarterly reductions in available listings since January came in Bristol (down 23.9%), West Yorkshire (22.5%), Merseyside (17.7%), South Yorkshire (15.8%) and Leicestershire (14.8%). Nottinghamshire (14.7%), the West Midlands (12.8%) and Greater Manchester (9.9%) also recorded substantial falls.
With fewer properties available, Dwelly expects competition for rental homes to intensify. It says this puts more weight on how efficiently agents manage enquiries, progress applications and communicate throughout the lettings process.
Some rental markets see availability increase
Conditions differ elsewhere in England. Wiltshire recorded the strongest average quarterly rise in availability since January at 17.4%, followed by West Sussex (13.2%), Herefordshire (9.0%), Suffolk (7.8%) and Bedfordshire (7.2%).
Where rental availability is rising, Dwelly says agents face a different set of tasks, with more emphasis on marketing properties, attracting suitable tenants and minimising void periods. The group also contends that cutting repetitive administration helps agents respond to either set of conditions.
“The rental market is far from uniform, and what we’re seeing is that letting agents are having to navigate very different conditions depending on where they operate,” said Sam Humphreys, head of M&A at Dwelly.
“In areas where available rental stock is falling, competition for properties can become more intense, placing greater importance on how quickly and effectively agents manage enquiries, progress tenancies and communicate with prospective tenants. But where stock is increasing, the challenge is different. Agents need to work harder to market available properties, attract the right tenants and minimise the time a property spends empty.
“This is exactly where we believe technology can make a meaningful difference. By removing much of the repetitive administration from the lettings process, we’re giving our acquired agency teams more time to focus on the parts of the job that really matter, whether that’s managing high levels of tenant interest or proactively marketing properties in more competitive areas.
“Ultimately, technology should make good letting agents better at what they do. Our focus is on giving established local agencies the tools and support to respond to their own market conditions, rather than expecting every agency to operate in exactly the same way.”
