According to tenant surveys conducted in March and September 2023 by our sister company, The Deposit Protection Service (The DPS), renters are typically staying in their properties for a third longer compared with four years ago.

The average tenancy now lasts 924 days, or just over two and a half years compared with 706 days or just under two years during 2020. This amounts to a rise of 30.87% during the period.

Matt Trevett, Managing Director at The DPS said: “Average tenancy lengths started increasing during the pandemic as a result of government restrictions on moving and, despite the lifting of all restrictions in February 2022, average tenancy lengths have continued to rise.

“Responses to our regular tenant surveys suggest that the combination of competition for new rentals, high rents and other financial issues, as well as tenants acquiring a ‘lockdown pet’ are contributing to renters typically staying for longer in a property.

“Longer tenancies can also increase the likelihood of wear and tear and maintenance issues associated with a rental property; we’d therefore encourage landlords and tenants to keep an open dialogue throughout to ensure concerns are dealt with in good time as well as help avoid any dispute over return of a deposit at the end of a tenancy due to the property’s condition.”

More interesting statistics

The same surveys of over 2,000 tenants also revealed the following:

• The percentage of relocating respondents who found it difficult’ or ‘very difficult’ to move increased by 6% (from 39% to 45%).
• The proportion of respondents who stated they were not planning to move increased by 2%, from 48% to 50%.
• The proportion of respondents who said they’d taken on an additional job to secure their rental property increased by 3%, from 27% to 30%.
• 64% of movers questioned had made financial sacrifices to meet their new rental arrangements, an increase of 1% (63%).
• The proportion of respondents who had to pay £501 or more in rent increased by 5% (from 8% to 13%).

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