There has been a notable rise in demand for London rentals.

With offices opening up and face-to-face teaching back in colleges and universities, the demand for rental homes in the capital increased by 4% in Q1 2021 compared to the previous quarter.

Waltham Forest has seen the largest increase in tenant demand, up 16% during the first three months of the year, according to the research by rental portal, Rentd.

Redbridge (+12%), Barking and Dagenham (+11%), Havering (+11%) and Hounslow (+11%) have also seen some of the strongest uplifts.

In fact, just eight boroughs have seen a decline in rental demand since the end of last year, with the majority found within the prime London market.

Merton (-12%) has seen the largest quarterly decline, with Tower Hamlets (-4%), Islington (-3%), Southwark (-2%) Kensington and Chelsea (-2%), Kingston (-2%), Westminster (-1%) and Camden (-1%) also seeing a drop.

Ahmed Gamal, founder and CEO of Rentd, said: “The London rental market has been particularly hard hit during the pandemic and with a lack of both foreign and professional tenant demand, landlords have had to slash their rental price expectations simply to avoid long void periods with no income at all.

“This has led to surges in demand over the last year as tenants have looked to take advantage of these much lower rental values but the London rental landscape has been unsettled, to say the least.

“However, this year has brought a rejuvenated level of certainty to the market, spurred by a return to the workplace and an uplift in rental demand for London properties. As a result, we’re seeing rental values return, and exceed, pre-pandemic levels in many parts of the market and this will be very welcome news for the capital’s landlords.”