Tenants stay put amid uncertain outlook and Renters’ Rights Act
The continuing uncertainty in the Middle East and imminent arrival of the Renters’ Rights Act appear to have led to a sharp rise in tenants in London ‘staying put’ in their rental properties in April rather than moving on.
There was a 22% rise, compared with April 2025, in the number of landlords and tenants agreeing to renew their lease with Chestertons Property Management last month, amid geopolitical volatility and ahead of the Renters’ Rights Act becoming law on 1 May.
This follows several months of declining renewals, during which tenants looked to move to new rental properties or buy for the first time. In parallel, enquiries to the Chestertons lettings portal declined by 13% in April.
Rental Supply And Demand Remain Finely Balanced
There was also a 10% rebound, compared with April 2025, in the number of available rental properties across Chestertons, alongside a 12% increase in pipeline deals, following several months of shrinking supply.
Latest comments from Zoopla indicate that, while many smaller landlords have sold properties due to tax and regulatory pressures, improving affordability in the sales market has also encouraged some tenants onto the housing ladder.
Rental supply and demand in the capital, however, remain finely balanced. Recent market data points to a slight pick-up in rents after many months of slower, but still positive, growth.
Rightmove’s Q1 Rental Trends Tracker found that rents in Greater London rose by 0.7% compared with the previous quarter, reversing the same decline recorded in Q4. The annual rate of rental growth also increased to 1.4%, up from 0.8% in the final quarter of 2025.