Nine renters competing for every property
Friday 21st August, 2026
Propertymark data shows nine prospective tenants competed for each available rental property in the UK in June, as supply remained well below demand.
This gives you a chance to explain the rental pressure facing people across the UK, using your view of the country’s largest property market.
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Why have we flagged this?
Propertymark’s latest data shows severe competition in the rental market, giving Rightmove an opportunity to share rental demand trends and practical insight with consumer media.
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Thinking...
These are starting points for inspiration, not finished ideas.
Data idea
Reveal where rental competition is easing fastest
Show which areas have seen the biggest fall in tenant enquiries per rental listing over the past year.
Data to investigate: Analyse your rental listing and enquiry data to compare tenant enquiries per property by area year on year.
Why: It would turn a stark national shortage story into a useful local guide for renters and provide clear regional winners and losers.
Expert comment
Explain why stable rents still signal a stressed market
Argue that flat monthly rents can conceal worsening affordability when tenants face intense competition and fewer choices.
Expert comment angle: Offer a Rightmove rental expert to consumer property journalists with the specific view that competition, not just rent rises, is the clearest measure of market stress.
Why: It adds useful interpretation to the figures and challenges the assumption that stable rents mean conditions are improving.
Newsjack
Create a renter’s guide to winning competitive applications
Publish a practical, evidence-led guide showing how tenants can prepare stronger applications without encouraging them to overpay.
Newsjack angle: Create a downloadable checklist covering documents, references and viewing preparation, then pitch it to national consumer and regional press.
Why: It gives renters immediate help in a highly pressured market and offers journalists a practical service angle beyond repeating the nine-to-one statistic.