OPINION: What's for rent in Chichester?

With Clive Janes from CRJ Lettings

Last week I looked at what properties were for sale in Chichester.

This week I thought I’d cater for those who aren’t yet in a position to buy and instead are looking for a property to rent in Chichester.

It should also help Chichester’s landlords see how their properties fit into the rental market.

Of course what you can rent is largely dependent on your budget. The cheapest property in Chichester costs £340pcm (per calendar month).

The problem is it’s a single room in a house, rather than a whole property.

The cheapest property in Chichester that you could call your own will set you back £595pcm.

That will get you a two bedroom apartment in Charles Avenue, which I actually think has been rather under-priced, considering the next cheapest two bedroom flat in Chichester is up for £750pcm.

On the other end of the scale, the most expensive property for rent in Chichester today is a Grade II listed four bedroom house on St Pancras, which is available to rent for £2,000pcm.

Clearly property in Chichester is expensive…some more so than others!

Let’s assume your budget is somewhere in the middle of the market.

In fact, the median property for rent in Chichester costs £950pcm, which is the same figure as it was 12 months ago.

For £950pcm you could choose to rent a modern two bedroom city centre apartment or, if you wanted more space, the cheapest three bedroom house on Chichester’s rental market is available for the same price.

Delving a little deeper into the median price by property type provides a good indication of what your budget is likely to be able to afford in Chichester:

One bedroom flat – £750pcm.Two bedroom flat – £895pcm.Two bedroom house – £950pcm.Three bedroom house – £1,195pcm.Four bedroom house – £1,350pcm.

What was also interesting to see was how much (or how little!) choice there is for prospective tenants in Chichester right now.

There are a total of 179 properties for rent, of which 91 are still available to rent and 88 are now ‘let agreed’.

This is actually an improvement on the market a year ago, when a near record low of just 66 homes were still available to rent, but it is still low for a city that houses 6,356 private renters.

Those looking for an apartment have the most choice, with 22 one bedroom flats and 24 two bedroom flats available to rent in Chichester.

My longer-term readers won’t be surprised to hear that two bedroom houses are in the shortest supply, with just five available throughout the city.

Meanwhile there are 21 three bedroom houses available to rent, for which I hold the keys to three of at varying rents of £995pcm, £1,200pcm and £1,300pcm.

It seems that rental supply remains tight in Chichester, which is limiting tenants’ choices, keeping rents resilient, and makes finding that dream home just a little bit [email protected]

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