This is according to Foxton’s latest Lettings Market Index. The figures also reveal that supply of rental property increased and tenant demand normalised, the number of new renters fighting for each instruction was down year-on-year and month-on-month.

In September, there was an average of 19 renters per new instruction across London, which was a 19% decrease compared to the previous year and a 17% decrease from the previous month (August).

Despite the increase in rental supply, prices remained high compared with last year, up 10% year-on-year, while month-on-month there was no change, with little movement in rental prices since May 2023.

Applicant budgets continued to grow compared to previous years, despite a seasonal 3% decline from August to September.

Month-on-month supply decreased 13%, according to Foxtons analysis of Zoopla data, while demand fell 32% month on month, in line with market dynamics towards the end of peak lettings season. Westminster continued to show the largest proportion of new market instructions year to date, accounting for 11% of London’s new lets.

The average percentage of rental budgets spent to secure a property has remained stable throughout the year, sitting around 99%, which was the average renter spend in September. The highest average spend for the year was in May, at 101%, Foxtons’ data shows.

Foxtons managing director of lettings  Gareth Atkins comments: “Supply of rental properties in London has increased 10% compared to this time last year, which is very welcome news. However, we are still behind the levels we’ve seen in 2019, 2021 and of course the post-lockdown market of 2020, so we’re not back to a normal seasonal market just yet”.