Tenants return to city centers after price drop caused by Covid Business News

Demand for rented accommodation in UK cities is increasing after the coronavirus pandemic which saw prices drop dramatically, according to a report.

People are returning to urban centers hoping to get a good deal as Covid-19 restrictions ease, according to the Zoopla facility’s website.

Surveys in central London have risen 7% since Easter, while prices are at their lowest in years, researchers say. As a share of one-earner income, the average rent now costs 42% in the city, up from 53% at the end of 2016.

Prices in the capital are still down 9.4 percent from a year ago, leading to what Zoopla called “a marked improvement in affordability”.

Outside London, however, rents rose 3 percent in the year through the end of March, rising fastest in the north-east and south-west of England.

Demand has exploded elsewhere as well, with central Edinburgh rising 26% since Easter and central Leeds by 12%. In Manchester, the figure was 5%.

In these cities, prices remained down 3.2%, 0.7% and 1.1% respectively from the previous year.

Grainne Gilmore, Head of Research at Zoopla, said: “High levels of demand in the wider UK market, against a backdrop of limited supply, will continue to support rental growth this year.

“The increased availability of mortgages for people with lower deposits could cause more people to leave the area to buy their first homes until 2021, but broader economic uncertainty will limit this trend.

“At the same time, the openness of the economy and the slow return to the ‘status quo’ as the vaccine rolls out means that demand will continue to grow over the summer as more people will move to rent their first property – although, as always, this will depend on whether the economy opens up on schedule.

“Demand will continue to increase in city centers as offices begin to reopen and this, coupled with increased levels of accessibility in many cases, will begin to counter the negative pressure on rents observed over the past 12 months. last months.