ARLA Propertymark has issued its September Private Rented Sector (PRS) Report, which showed that the average number of new prospective tenants registered per branch fell in September to 83, from August’s figure of 107. This still remains the highest figure on record for the month of September though, beating September 2020’s previous record of 82 per branch. 

Regionally, the West Midlands had the highest number of new tenants registered per branch with an average of 106. This number was lowest in Northern Ireland where there was only an average of 42 new prospective tenants registered in September. 

The number of tenants experiencing rent increases fell slightly in September, as 75% of agents saw landlords increasing rents compared to 79% in August. This is the highest rate on record for the month of September, beating the previous September record of 58% in 2019. 

Propertymark’s CEO Nathan Emerson commented: “The PRS remains under pressure as we continue to see high demand for properties and rent increases. As we emerge from the pandemic, lower-income renters are facing mounting pressures on their ability to pay their rent, with rising energy prices, inflation set to top 4% by the end of the year, the freeze on Local Housing Allowance rates and the removal of the uplift in Universal Credit only set to exacerbate that.”