According to the Private Rented Sector Report ,by ARLA Propertymark, in February the number of prospective tenants rose again. This follows the same trend as the figures collected in January.

The report also shows that the average number of prospective tenants rose to 82 new tenants registered per branch in February. This is an increase of 1 person per branch in comparison with Januarys figure of 81.

Year on year these figures are similar to those collected in February 2020, it is however a huge increase from the data gathered in February 2019. During February 2019 only 65 new prospective tenants registered per branch.

The highest number of prospective tenants came from the West Midlands where an impressive 126 people were registered per branch. On the other side of the scale, Northern Ireland and the Isle Of Man are the locations with the lowest number of prospective tenants registered. In both these locations only 26 people were registered per branch.

Also, more tenants experienced rent increases in February when compared to last months data. 49% of agents reported rent increases this year which has increased from 39% in January.

The number of properties being managed by a lettings agent has also fallen for the third month in a row. The figure dropped to an average of 195 properties being managed per branch. The North East has the highest number of properties managed per branch. Lettings agents in this area manage an average of 284 properties.

The number of landlords selling their buy to let properties has remained the same for the past 5 months in a row, at 4 per branch. This is slightly lower than February 2020’s figure of 5 per branch.