The tenant's view
The number of tenants moving remains steady as the market stabilises ahead of the Renters' Right Act.
Our survey of tenants provides them with the opportunity to share their rental experiences and give their view of the market – from how they've sourced their current tenancies, to the ease of moving to a new property.
The 1,311 tenants that responded to our latest survey were drawn from a range of demographic backgrounds.
The number of tenants moving into new rentals has stayed the same for a second wave. Only 18% of respondents stated they moved in the last 12 months, 2% higher than March 2025.
33% told us they would have liked to move, a 3% decrease from our last survey, reflective of the more stable market conditions.
25%
said they were forced to stay living in a property with issues such as dampness or damage
22%
are paying more than they can afford in their current home
19%
say they would like to move as their current property is too small
Affordability has improved for many tenants who moved, with fewer tenants having to pay more than their previous tenancy.
Of those having to pay higher rent, the rate of increase largely stayed the same, with the only increase being in the 0-10% of previous rent, up 8% to 22% compared to March. Rent increases of over 50% fell 5% in the same wave.
59%
are paying a higher rent than their previous property, 4% lower than March 2025
14%
had to put in an offer over the listed price
46%
had to pay more than a month's rent upfront to secure their new property, a fall of 4% since March
89%
saw the time it takes for them to commute to work increase
Tenants that moved in the last year vs those that didn't
We asked tenants if they'd moved in the last 12 months. Many of the subsequent questions we asked were dependent on their response to this question.
Movers
Where tenants told us they'd moved in the last six months we asked:
How easy or difficult was it to secure your present rental property?
This graph shows tenant experiences of securing the property. In our latest wave, 27% found it neither easy nor difficult to secure their property, although 43% of tenants found it difficult or very difficult.
Percentage of tenants experiencing rent increases
We asked all tenants who moved, how much their rent increased in the new property.
Tenant experiences with rent increases
We asked all tenants if they experienced rent increases and if so, how much more they were now paying.
Impact of higher rents on tenants
We asked tenants experiencing higher rents how this had affected them.
Non-movers
Tenants content to stay in current property vs those that wanted to move
If tenants told us they hadn't moved in the last six months, we asked them if they would have liked to.
Reasons tenants wanted to move
Where tenants told us they would have liked to move, we asked them why.
Demographics
We asked tenants several demographic questions to understand more about the respondents and potentially identify any trends within groups.
Length of time tenant has spent as a renter
Tenant attitudes towards owning a home
We asked all tenants if they were interested in owning their own home in the future.
For a more in-depth view of all tenant statistics, please view the full Private Rented Sector review PDF.