The demand for private rented housing has reached a five year high according to new research released by the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) following the easing of COVID restrictions.  

The wide-ranging survey of private landlords across England and Wales, conducted in partnership with research consultancy BVA/BDRC, found that 39% confirmed that demand for homes to rent had increased in the second quarter of 2021 – an 8% increase on the first quarter of the year.  

The data also reveal that demand has reached a five-year high, with demand only reaching a similar peak in in the first quarter of 2016. BVA-BDRC observe that demand has increased largely due to the relaxation of COVID restrictions and a more buoyant economic outlook. 

The figures mask a trend which is seeing a two-tier rental market developing across particular regions in England and Wales. In Yorkshire and the Humber, Wales, the South West and the South East over 60% of landlords said that demand for homes to rent had increased. In stark contrast, just 15% of landlords in Central London said demand had increased in the second quarter of the year, compared with 53% who said it had fallen.