How the ‘Hollywood of Europe’ became Britain’s busiest buy-to-let hotspot

Landlord exodus under Labour fuels Welsh city’s white hot rental market

Wrexham has had the busiest rental market in Britain for two years running after an exodus of landlords caused demand for properties to surge.
Letting agents in Wrexham received an average of 54 enquiries for every new rental property advertised this year – more than any other city in Britain – according to research by Rightmove. Average rents were £967 per month. 
The Welsh city’s hot rental market had previously been attributed to Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds buying the local football team in November 2020 alongside fellow actor Rob McElhenney.
But estate agents claim the real reason Wrexham’s private rented sector faces such high demand is because landlords have sold up amid new regulation brought in under the Government.
Vaughan Schofield, of local estate agent Belvoir Wrexham, said that “Ryan Reynolds has done amazing things for this town”, but that he knew of only “one or two people looking to live here because of him”.
He added that laws passed in 2022 requiring landlords to meet strict criteria when leasing a property to tenants had been partly responsible for a decline in available homes.
Under new rules, tenants in Wales are allowed to withhold rent from landlords under certain conditions, for example until landlords fix a broken boiler or replace plug sockets that do not work. 
He said: “The pendulum has swung to a point where the legislation favours tenants over landlords. That’s the perception and that’s what has led to so many landlords considering whether they should sell or not.”
It has left tenants in Wrexham competing for properties, Mr Schofield said. 
“Some people have been searching [for a rental property] for six to nine months. A three bedroom semi-detached property we listed recently had over 160 email enquiries,” he added.
The city hit headlines four years ago when Mr Reynolds and Mr McElhenney. snapped up Wrexham Football Club for around £1.8m. The duo are regularly pictured attending games and created a fly-on-the-wall series about their takeover of the club. 
Last year, there were 56 enquiries on average for every rental property in Wrexham, according to research by Rightmove.
The figure is down slightly in 2024 but still well above the national average of 19 enquiries per listing, the listings site found.
Wrexham was followed in 2024’s rankings by Glasgow, where there were 52 enquiries on average, Bristol, where there were 51, and Plymouth which saw 50. 
Tim Bannister, a Rightmove property expert, said: “Whilst at a high-level there has been an easing in the rental market compared with last year, from speaking with agents, we know that many local markets are yet to feel the effect from these improvements.
“To be receiving upwards of 50 enquiries per available rental property in some local areas is an astonishing figure.”
Rightmove found that average advertised rents outside London are at a record £1,349 per month, 5pc higher than this time last year. Rents are growing significantly slower than two years ago, in 2022, when price increases peaked at 12pc.