What's next for flatsharers?
COVID has hit the UK rental market hard. With people moving home for lockdown and struggling to make longer term plans, demand from tenants dropped. That's particularly true in London, where demand vs supply was down 23% in the first quarter of 2021.
But, as lockdown eases further, and with the drop far less pronounced in March than either January or February, the signs are there that things will pick up as we head into summer and life becomes (hopefully) a bit simpler.
We asked over 12,000 of you what your plans were post-COVID. Here's what you told us.
Firstly, lots of you are planning on moving.
'What are your plans post-lockdown?'
- I'm staying put 41%
- I'm moving 40%
- Not sure 19%
Nothing necessarily too surprising there. The interesting thing came when we asked the next question...
'Will you stay in the town/city you live in or move elsewhere?'
- Stay in my current town/city 19%
- Move elsewhere 76%
- Not sure 5%
That means three in every in four people who say they're moving want to relocate. Surprisingly the figure was the same across the UK, including London. Clearly lockdown life has meant people everywhere are wanting to make some changes.
So, location aside, we wanted to know what other changes people were likely to make. It turns out being near people green space were most important.
'What matters most about where you live post-COVID?'
- Proximity to friends/family 13%
- Being near green space 13%
- Having my own place 12%
- Being near work/study 11%
- Having more space 11%
- Good transport links 11%
- Access to a garden 10%
- Having space to work from home 8%
- Being able to work remotely 8%
The reality is nobody quite knows how things will pan out over the coming weeks and months. We expect there to be a surge in demand as things open up over summer, but what the UK's rental map looks like this time next year is still hard to predict.
Want an extra entry into Live Rent Free? The answer to the question below is your coupon for an extra entry into next month's prize draw – click the button below and enter it in the box. Be quick though, the code expires at 11:45pm on May 31st. Good luck!
Q: Where was demand vs supply down 23% in the first quarter of 2021?