According to Zoopla’s Rental Market Report, this is down from an average of 6.8 enquiries last year.
Zoopla said this was a sign that the rental market was becoming more balanced, after competition for rental homes peaked in 2022 and 2023.
The ease in demand has contributed to a slowing of rental growth, which has fallen from 2.8% last year to 1.9% this year.
At the same time, average earnings have risen more quickly than rents, which has improved affordability. The annual rent for a property outside of London is now 33.5% of the gross annual income for a single person, an improvement from when the ratio was 35% in 2023 and at its highest level for 20 years.
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The potential for homeownership
Zoopla said the decline in demand was partially due to improving conditions in the mortgage market, making it easier for first-time buyers to get on the ladder and leaving previously rented homes available.
According to the firm, the 14% fall in rental demand has coincided with an 11% increase in supply.
Also, the level of migration to the UK for work and study, which usually drives rental demand, has fallen. Estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggest that net migration to the UK peaked at 944,000 people in the year to March 2023 and slowed to 204,000 in the year to June 2025.
The firm said this was not the only reason for the boosted supply, as some homeowners who were struggling to sell their homes were putting them up for rent instead.
Zoopla said these changing dynamics meant homes were taking longer to rent, now taking 20 days on average to find a tenant, a week longer than 2022’s peak of 13 days. It suggested this gave potential tenants more choice and opportunity to negotiate.
Regional divides in rental growth
The data showed that rental growth was stronger in more affordable markets such as Northern England and Scotland, with some cities reporting increases of 3-4% and higher, such as Liverpool and Newcastle, with growth rates of 4.6% and 4.5% respectively.
Meanwhile, some cities in the Midlands and Southern regions were seeing lower or negative price growth, such as Bristol with 0.8% growth and Cambridge at 0.1%. Further, average rents fell by 0.7% in Birmingham and 0.8% in Nottingham.
Best market conditions for renters
Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla, said: “Market conditions for renters are the best they have been for six years. The rental market is moving back towards balance as demand cools and more homes become available to rent. Renters are facing less competition for homes and slower rent increases than in recent years. Localised changes in demand and supply are resulting in rents falling in some cities, but this will be only a short-lived trend.
“The rental market is moving back towards balance as demand cools and more homes become available to rent. Renters are facing less competition for homes and slower rent increases than in recent years.”
Donnell added: “However, supply remains well below pre-pandemic levels, which means increasing the number of rental homes remains key to improving affordability for the UK renters over the long term.”
