(Bloomberg) -- Central London landlords hoping that residential rents would rebound as swathes of bankers, finance workers and lawyers return to the office are being left disappointed.
Tower Hamlets, where Barclays Plc and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have their U.K. headquarters, and Westminster, where many hedge funds and private equity funds are based, saw the biggest decline in the cost of leasing a home in the city in the 12 months through June, according to data compiled by property portal Zoopla.
The City of London, the capital's main financial district, is also struggling to tempt workers back, Nigel Wilson, chief executive officer at Legal & General Group Plc, said in a recent interview with Bloomberg TV. That's hurting landlords who own apartments near the area, many of which lack the outdoor space now prioritized by renters.
Fewer people want to rent in the city after Covid lockdowns, and too many landlords in new tower blocks are seeking rents that are too high, Terry Osborne, a director at real estate broker Tuckerman Residential Ltd., wrote in a survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors published Thursday.
| District | Average Monthly Rent | Annual Growth |
|---|---|---|
| Kensington and Chelsea | £2,550 | -7.5% |
| Southwark | £1,628 | -7.6% |
| Islington | £1,737 | -8.0% |
| Westminster | £2,222 | -8.1% |
| Tower Hamlets | £1,582 | -8.5% |
| Source: Zoopla. Data is through June |
The popularity of working from home is also weighing on sales. Asking prices for apartments across London fell 2% since February 2020, property portal Rightmove said in a separate report Thursday. That compares with a 1% increase nationally in the same period.
Central London “is a buyer's market,” Simon Aldous, valuations director at Savills Plc, said in the RICS survey.
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
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