Rents cut by up to 20% as tenants quit city centres due to Covid-19 (The Guardian, 20 Sept 2020)

• Landlords slash rents by up to 20% as tenants quit city centres in pandemic

• By Rupert Jones. Published in the Guardian on 20 September 2020

• https://www.theguardian.com/money/2020/sep/20/private-rents-plunge-covid-19-decimates-lettings-market-workplace-space-gardens

• Summary:

  • According to estate agents, average rents in London are down by around 4% on a year ago, or 6% to 7% in the so-called “prime” areas.

  • The article quotes real estate agents saying "rents in and around the Barbican estate area had 'probably dropped 20% since lockdown', though he added that they were 'now creeping up again'; and that "(r)ents in Bloomsbury and Clerkenwell 'have probably fallen by at least 10%'".

  • "Data released by estate agent Hamptons this month showed that demand from people looking to rent in city locations across Britain is down 23%."

  • "The falls may come as no surprise after a multitude of surveys suggesting that many city dwellers have either moved out already or are planning to do so after concluding that home working is here to stay. Some have moved back in with parents or have relocated to places that are not only cheaper but offer more space or better access to the countryside."

• Keywords: London, England, UK, Britain, coronavirus, Covid-19, pandemic, rental prices