Zero Deposit's latest research has unveiled that tenant demand for rental properties saw a modest rise of 1.5% from the first to the second quarter of 2024. Despite this quarterly increase, the demand remains 2.3% lower compared to the same period last year.

Zero Deposit's comprehensive analysis delved into rental demand across England's counties, evaluating the proportion of rental properties that had agreements in place relative to the total number of available rental homes.

The latest figures indicate that during the second quarter of 2024, rental demand across England was at 33.3%. This essentially means that one out of every three rental listings managed to secure a tenant.

Although national demand lagged 2.3% behind last year's figures, it did exhibit a 1.5% rise from the previous quarter.

Among the counties, Herefordshire experienced the most significant surge in rental demand, with an impressive increase of 11.9% between Q1 and Q2 2024.

The City of London followed with an 8.4% rise, while Northumberland (+7.3%), the West Midlands (+7.2%), and Cumbria (+6%) rounded out the top five counties with the largest quarterly gains.

West Sussex emerged as the frontrunner in tenant demand, boasting that 57.2% of its rental properties were occupied during the second quarter.

Somerset also performed strongly, with a tenant demand of 53.7% in Q2. It was closely trailed by Suffolk (53.4%), Dorset (53%), and Cornwall (49.9%).

Conversely, Nottingham exhibited the lowest levels of tenant demand, with just 18.5% of its available rental properties finding tenants.

Sam Reynolds, CEO of Zero Deposit, commented: “So far this year, tenant demand has continued to climb and we’ve seen an uplift in the number of available homes being let during Q2 when compared to the first three months of the year.

"Demand is particularly strong across a number of south coast hotspots and as we enter further into the summer months, this is likely to remain the case.

"However, demand for rental properties across the nation is still yet to return to the same levels seen last year and it’s clear that the ongoing issue of affordability is continuing to restrict the market, particularly in the current economic landscape.

“There are growing examples of later stage drop outs and properties staying on the market for longer as renters have a greater choice of property and see less of a need to heavily compromise on their next home.

“We’re seeing record interest in our product from letting agents and landlords looking to increase their pool of tenants and reduce time to let.

“In doing so, letting agents in low demand areas, in particular, are finding that they are able to boost rental demand levels, as they allow tenants an alternative path to securing a rental property.”