Record rents outside London, though landlord shift from holiday lets sees capital’s rents fall

• Asking rents outside London hit a record of £845 per month, up 3.4% on the same time last year, the highest annual rate since Q2 2016
• Record rental demand as phone and email enquiries to agents hit a new all-time high on Monday 6th July, and rental demand is now 40% higher than this time last year
• In contrast London asking rents have fallen by 0.6% compared to a year ago and down 2.8% in the last quarter, as levels of total available stock have soared by 41% compared to this time last year, fuelled by landlords with holiday lets now competing for long-term rentals
• A new survey among landlords has found that despite growing concern over risks of greater rent arrears, a quarter of them are still planning to increase the number of buy-to-let properties they own