‘Bills Included’ becomes the most searched-for term by renters

The most popular search term from prospective renters scouring Rightmove has become ‘Bills Included’.

The portal says that this term - which was only the sixth most searched-for term a year ago - has now overtaken other key search words such as ‘pets’ and ‘gardens’ and ‘garages’.

In addition, Rightmove explains that the average size of area that people are looking in to find a new place to rent has almost doubled in size compared with four years ago, suggesting that a lack of homes and record rents mean they need to cast their net wider.

In summer 2018 the average search area was 70 square kilometres and that has now jumped to 137 square kilometres. Hybrid working is also a likely factor as many people have more flexibility about where they live.

Rightmove spokesperson Tim Bannister says: “People looking for a new place to rent are casting their net much wider than before, in the hope that it will help them find a suitable place that they can afford. Although it’s not as constrained as it was a few months ago, the number of homes is still nowhere near enough to meet demand from tenants. 

“The lack of homes is down to more people choosing to stay put and sign longer contracts, some landlords selling up due to more onerous taxes and others taking advantage of record house prices, and hybrid working shifting some demand to more rural and suburban pockets of Great Britain. This has all led to a fiercely competitive rental market in many areas with agents reporting that in some cases properties are being rented out in just a few hours.”

The number of new rental properties coming to market continues to improve, up by three per cent in July versus June, but the number of available properties is still currently 25 per cent lower than this time last year.

As a result the average asking rent outside London is 19 per cent higher than this time in 2020, up from £949 per calendar month to a record of £1,126 pcm

With no signs of supply easing Rightmove is forecasting that nationally rents will end the year some eight per cent higher than last year

Top five most popular search terms in Rightmove’s Keyword Sort, August 2022: 

1 Bills included

2 Pets

3 Furnished

4 Balcony 

5 Garden

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Top five most popular search terms in Rightmove’s Keyword Sort, August 2021:

1 Pets

2 Balcony

3 Furnished

4 Garden

5 Garage

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