London’s prime housing market shows “early signs of a recovery” as young professionals take up properties as the UK vaccine roll-out continues, says property agent London Central Portfolio.

Marylebone and Pimlico were the “hotspots” in the first three months of the year with over half of new applicants wanting to move to these areas, says the firm in its quarterly survey.

The agent, which manages about £715m of central London properties, says quarterly renewals were 4.3% down, re-lets were 13% lower, compared to the same period a year ago. It adds the average void period was 63.6 days.

The agent adds the time taken to let a vacant property in the first quarter of the year fell to its “lowest level since March 2020 prior to the first UK lockdown. The void period between tenancies remains above London Central Portfolio’s historic average, however, the recent decrease indicates a return of activity in the rental market despite challenging times”.

Over the last year, renewals are 2.1% down, re-lets are 13.9% lower, compared to the previous 12 months. The average void period is 69 days.

In the first quarter of 2021, tenants from the banking and financial industries represented the most new move-ins at 39%. However, high net worth students accounted for 22% of move-ins.

The firm says 86% of new tenants in the first quarter of this year “were 30 or under, continuing a trend seen in 2020. These tenants are capitalising on historically lower rents whilst still available, as the promise of easing restrictions is slowly being realised. This contrasts with a reluctance of older tenants to move into London during the pandemic”.

The agent adds that as the level of available stock falls, there has been a reduction in the rental discounts demanded on re-lets in recent months.

But it says rents have not yet returned to previous levels, although, “the upward trajectory provides positive early signs ahead of the traditionally busy summer period”.

London Central Portfolio chief executive Andrew Weir says: “Despite a third UK lockdown, the first quarter of 2021 saw a continued desire to live in prime London. Village-like neighbourhoods with good shopping facilities and outdoor recreation received the most demand.

“With a roadmap out of lockdown, rental activity increased over the quarter resulting in less available stock than this time prior year, as opportunistic UK-based tenants continued to benefit from discounted rents.”

Weir adds: “Void periods remained higher than pre-Covid levels but the first quarter of 2021 saw the shortest voids since the pandemic. While it is too early to declare the return of normality, perhaps we are beginning to witness the positive effects of a successful vaccine roll out and easing of government restrictions.”

London Central Portfolio manages properties in such areas as Soho, Fitzrovia, Chelsea and South Kensington.