Prime rents in the Home Counties grew by 3.5% in the first quarter of 2015, the highest rate of quarterly growth in nearly four years, according to Knight Frank’s Home Counties Lettings Index, 

Between January and March rents in the Home Counties went up by 3.5%, while annual rent growth was 4.7%. In the run-up to the election, Q1 2015 saw a rise in the number of ‘try before you buy’ tenants’. 

There are a number of things which have moved more ‘try before you buy’ renters into the Home Counties rental market this year, according to Oliver Knight, Editorial and Research Executive at Knight Frank. Typically, these tenants harbour long-term ambitions to buy property in the local area they are currently renting in.

Amanda Driver, Partner at Knight Frank, believes that the majority of private tenants in rented accommodation are choosing to renew their tenancy for another 12 months, delaying a house purchase so they can monitor the housing market over the coming year. 

“We have one family who have been renting in Oxshott for the past two years to be close to the private Danes Hill School there, and are still planning to continue renting until such time as there is certainty in the housing market,” she concluded.