The flow of new rental properties coming on to the market has fallen at the fastest rate since the first Covid lockdown five years ago, according to research by Britain\u2019s property surveyors.<\/p>\n
Although the demand for properties is steady, there are fewer new rentals from landlords coming available, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) found.<\/p>\n
The July 2025 Rics Residential Market Survey showed a \u201cfirmly negative trend\u201d in landlords making their properties available for rent, the weakest reading since April 2020.<\/p>\n
With the lack of fresh supply in the pipeline, rental prices are expected to rise over the next three months, according to the report, which takes a monthly \u201csentiment survey\u201d of chartered surveyors.<\/p>\n
The expected rise comes after another report this week found the average private rents in Great Britain had fallen marginally for the first time in five years<\/a>.<\/p>\n The estate agent Hamptons said lower mortgage rates had helped to take some heat out of the market and that the average rent on a newly let property fell by 0.2% in July compared with a year earlier.<\/p>\n The Rics report also said new inquiries from homebuyers had fallen in July, suggesting a softening in demand compared with earlier in the summer. In June, most of those surveyed said there had been a rise in fresh inquiries.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Business Today<\/p>\n Get set for the working day \u2013 we’ll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at Rics, said the flatter tone of the latest report showed the market was facing challenges. Last week, the Bank of England voted for a fifth cut in interest rates in a year, reducing the cost of borrowing to 4%<\/a> amid concerns about the strength of the UK economy.<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough interest rates were lowered at the latest Bank of England meeting, the split vote has raised doubts about both the timing and extent of further reductions,\u201d Rubinsohn said.<\/p>\n \u201cMeanwhile, uncertainty about the potential contents of the chancellor\u2019s autumn budget is also raising some concerns. Against this backdrop, respondents continue to report that the market remains particularly price sensitive at the present time.\u201d<\/p>\n