The number of available
properties to rent in West Oxfordshire has dipped considerably in recent weeks.
As a rule of thumb, there are usually around 200 properties available at any
given time within a 5-mile radius of Witney and this includes a number of
short-term holiday lets. As at the end of October, this has reduced to around
115, nearly half the long-term average. Consequently, rents are starting to
creep back up, void periods are coming down and landlords can afford to be choosier
with regards to accepting applications for tenancy.
Having thought about the reasons
for this, I suspect it’s a combination of increased demand due to vendors
selling up and pausing before making an onward purchase in anticipation of
falling property values and longer tenancies as people are staying put in these
uncertain times.
The graph below shows the availability of Witney rental
properties so far this year, but it is a similar picture for Carterton:
