The prime London lettings market saw activity increase across all metrics in January, but rental growth remained negative with supply rising faster than demand.
Data for January from property consultancy LonRes indicated an annual increase of 3.9% in lets agreed and a 31.5% increase in new instructions.
The stock of available rental properties also increased, with 44.0% more homes on the market across prime London at the end of January than a year earlier.
Despite these increases, all metrics remain significantly below pre-pandemic levels.Source: LonRes
Average rents fell by 0.7% in January on an annual basis, unchanged from the December figure.
Rents across prime London are now 31.0% above their 2017-2019 (pre-pandemic) average.
The average discount from asking rent was 3.4% in January, a little higher than the 2.8% averaged through 2025 but lower than the equivalent figure last January, suggesting a relatively strong level of current demand.
Meanwhile there’s more pessimistic analysis for a Prime Central London lettings agency, which says the PCL market contracted by 6% during 2025.
Beauchamp Estates puts the blame firms on the new Renters Rights Act, leading to professional and private landlords exiting the rental market.
Beauchamp Estates’ Millionaires Letting in London Survey 2026 shows the prime sector – lets between £1,000 to £5,000 per week – contracted.
The total value of long-let rental transactions in the prime market fell from £379.44m in 2024 to £356.28m over 2025, an annual fall in rental deals of over £23m.
There were 3,814 lettings deals of over £1,000 per week agreed during 2024, compared to 3,442 in 2025, a drop of over 370 transactions – averaging 31 less deals per month across the whole of last year.
By contrast, for super-prime London lettings valued at between £10,000 to £20,000 per week there were 19 deals in 2024, generating annual income of £12.7m, which jumped to 30 deals worth almost £20m in 2025.
This uplift is due to several factors: an influx of wealthy American and Middle Eastern tenants into London; and a rise in UK non-doms selling London homes and renting.
