Property market sees London rents plummet and unsold homes pile up

The housing market in Britain is grappling with a complex landscape as asking rents see an annualised decline of 1.8%, largely driven by a sharp downturn in London.

According to Home.co.uk’s latest Asking Prices Index which reveals that the capital’s rental market is under strain.

Only nine of its 33 boroughs are showing any growth in asking rents, and even those are tepid, with three barely nudging above 1%.

Camden and Islington are among the hardest hit, with rents plummeting by 8.9% and 9.9%, respectively.

Also, a 7% year-on-year increase in rental property supply in both nations is pushing rents down.

Rent rises go red

Home.co.uk says: “The national growth figure is in the red due mainly to the negative performance of London although negative contributions also now come from the West Midlands, the South East and Yorkshire.

“Meanwhile, the East Midlands continues to show exceptional performance with rental growth of 9%.”

Despite the PRS in England and Wales seeing rents slide, the sales market tells a different story.

Home values rose in every English region except Greater London and the South East in April, with Scotland and Wales also posting gains.

Asking prices are up by a modest 0.4% which is below the 1.4% rate of inflation.

Scotland sees price gains

Home.co.uk says: “Scotland remains the top regional property market growth leader with an impressive year-on-year gain of 4.5%, followed by Yorkshire at 4.3%.

“Meanwhile, the South East retains its position as the worst regional performer with a dire annualised loss of 0.4%.”

However, the platform reveals that 30,621 properties were added to estate agents’ books last month, pushing the total unsold stock to 533,797.

That’s the highest figure since October 2013.

Unsold stock piles up

The rise in unsold stock is far exceeding seasonal norms and points to a worrying drop in buyer demand.

It adds that the rise has been exacerbated by a recent stamp duty hike.

The platform says: “Supply of new sales properties entering the market during April 2025 remains moderate in most areas except for minor surges in the North East and the South West.

“Hence, the rapid build-up of stock indicates a fall in demand since the hike in stamp duty.”

Nationally, the time properties sit on the market has crept up by five days compared to last May.