Brexit doubters proved wrong as Europeans flock to UK to rent property
Brexit has had a major impact on the UK's rental market in recent years, but now Europeans are returning to the country.
Europeans are beginning to flock to the UK’s rental market, nearly eight years after the 2016 Brexit Referendum.
Figures suggest that after a drop following the vote, the number of Europeans choosing to rent in the UK’s capital is starting to rise again.
Around one in three of London’s renters were from Europe before the vote, but this dropped dramatically to just 14 percent six years later.
However, the number of European renters is now back on the rise and they now account for 20 percent of tenants in the UK’s political and economic centre.
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The latest positive figures come courtesy of Goodlord who wanted to know how Brexit had impacted London’s rental property sector.
The managing director of insurance at Goodlord Oli Sherlock said: “As the formalisation of Brexit crept closer, numbers continued to decline.
“This steady drop continued through the pandemic and as free movement for EU citizens came to an end…But there’s definitely been a soft rebound in Europeans making London their home," reports The Evening Standard.
Mr Sherlock cautioned that despite the rebound they were still not seeing the numbers of European renters they used to see in London. Furthermore, the demographics have now shifted to Romanians rather than Italians being the largest group of European renters.
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The latest economic development has arrived in the middle of the build-up to this year’s general election, one where Brexit has been mentioned preciously little by Labour and the Tories.
One expert has said the reason for so few mentions is down to sensitivities around the issues. Director of the Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy (CITP) Michael Gasiorek told Express.co.uk that Labour is being cautious when it comes to mentioning Britain’s future relationship with the European Union.
He said: “[Labour] fears the reaction of the right-leaning press to any suggestion of surrendering sovereignty to the EU. It recognises any Brexit-related promises that involve negotiation with the EU will be hard work to deliver – the EU does not much trust the UK, especially until the Conservatives have obviously got over their Euro-scepticism.”
On the other hand, Mr Gasiorek said the Conservative Party also didn’t want to open itself to criticism by mentioning Brexit. He explained: “The Government has not managed to organise itself to take advantage of sovereignty effectively; firms are almost all critical (of Brexit) and polls suggest a majority of the population regret it."
