UK Rental Competition Cools to 10 Inquiries Per Property as Rightmove Signals Easing Tenant Demand

The Quick Take

• Average private rental properties in Britain now receive just 10 inquiries each, per Rightmove, compared to a peak of 22 in 2022, signalling easing rental competition.
• Despite softening tenant competition, asking rents remain at record highs—suggesting supply constraints, not weaker demand, are the primary price driver.
• The normalisation in inquiry volumes from pandemic-era highs may indicate build-to-rent completions and mortgage rate stabilisation are gradually improving supply.

The halving of average rental property inquiries—from a pandemic-driven peak of 22 in 2022 to just 10 today—represents a meaningful normalisation in UK rental market intensity, even as headline asking prices remain at record levels. Rightmove's data captures the demand-side dynamic separately from supply constraints: the absolute scarcity of rental stock that drove 2022's bidding-war conditions has moderated as build-to-rent completions have added some supply and as fewer first-time buyer dropouts are forced to stay in the rental sector due to gradual mortgage rate improvement. The inquiry data is a lagging signal of the demand pressures that initially drove record asking rents.

The divergence between softening inquiry volumes (10 vs 22) and still-record asking prices reveals an important market segmentation: high-demand urban locations and premium properties continue to generate competitive inquiry volumes, while the statistical average is dragged down by an expanding supply of purpose-built rentals in regional cities and commuter towns. For residential property investors, this polarisation matters: prime-location assets maintain pricing power while secondary-location build-to-rent assets may face occupancy pressure. UK REIT operators in diversified residential portfolios—Grainger, Residential Secure Income—need to monitor whether occupancy rates are holding as inquiry normalisation continues across their geographically spread portfolios.

The key forward signal is whether the inquiry decline trend will eventually translate into asking rent moderation—a sequence that typically lags by three to six months in UK property data cycles. Watch Rightmove's monthly rental tracker for any deceleration in the rate of asking rent increases, particularly outside London where inquiry normalisation is most advanced. Bank of England's next Monetary Policy Report will incorporate the most recent ONS rental CPI, which lags Rightmove asking data; persistent services-sector inflation above 5% keeps rate cut expectations compressed. A further material reduction in inquiries per property through Q3 would be an early signal the rental affordability ceiling is being approached.

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