It was being widely reported by BBC News last week that the average rent fell by 0.8% in December compared with November, to £711 a month, with monthly rental falling for the first time in a year in London. The reasons for this dip were being attributed variously to renters feeling the shock of their Christmas shopping bills leading to more of them defaulting on their monthly payments at one extreme, and the annual seasonal dip that is consistently seen at the other.

Clearly, this is a national picture and the devil is in the detail, so for the benefit of both landlords and potential tenants in the Royal Borough, I thought it was worth putting this data into the context of the patterns and trends we are seeing in London and in Kensington & Chelsea specifically. Despite a dip of 0.9% in rent levels in London in December, this is the first dip of what has otherwise been a strong year, with a year-on-year rise of 5.6% overall. In K&C the pattern has been very similar and we have been achieving rent increases for landlords of 5.1% on average, keeping pace with the RPI of 5.2% on average.

2012 has already got off to a strong start with numerous tenancies secured in the first 2 weeks of the New Year. Some of these have been secured in Elm Park Mansions, Drayton Gardens and Harcourt Terrace, to name just a few, including two houses; a 5 bedroom in Earl’s Court Square, Earls Court, SW5 and a 4 bedroom in Farrier Walk, Chelsea, SW10.

Some of you may not be aware just how successful we are in letting houses and apartments at the upper end of the market. Take the house in Earl’s Court Square as an example. Several well known ‘corporate’ agents were marketing the property well in advance of Farrar & Co being instructed as the client was led to believe that there wasn’t any need to instruct us too.

Within 10 days of us receiving the go ahead, we negotiated a tenancy with an applicant who was solely looking to rent a property through ourselves as we actually listened to their needs and requirements.

We hear many times that this is one of the most frustrating elements of registering with other agents which is why many of our tenancies are secured from repeat business and referrals from our happy tenants.

It is always our ambition to secure the best tenant in the quickest time possible and deliver a professional and efficient lettings service.

The next time you need to find a tenant, carefully consider which agent to choose…..