Over seven in 10 landlords reported rising levels of tenant demand during the third quarter of the year – a new record high, research conducted on behalf of Paragon Bank has found. 

In total, 71% of landlords reported increasing levels of tenant demand, up from the previous record high of 67% recorded in the second quarter. This marks a new all-time high across the 12-year period that research agency BVA BDRC has tracked the metric. Just 3% of landlords reported that tenant demand had fallen. 

Regionally, the strongest levels of tenant demand can be seen in the West Midlands, with 76% of landlords in the region reporting an increase, followed by Wales (75%), the South East (74%) and East Midlands (73%). The North East (65%) and the East of England (61%) experienced the lowest proportion of landlords with tenant demand increases.  

Linked to increased tenant demand, landlords are also reporting rising rents, with 87% identifying this as a current trend in areas where they let properties, unchanged from last quarter. Seven in 10 landlords (70%) stated that they have increased rents across their own portfolio within the last 12 months, up from 65% in Q2. A lower proportion, 54%, of landlords are planning to raise rents across their portfolios in the next six months, up by three percentage points since last quarter. Those planning to increase rents anticipate doing so by an average of 8.4%.