Rents still rising in almost every UK region, HomeLet monitor shows

HomeLet’s monthly rental market monitor shows that rents are still rising across the UK. 

It says rents on new tenancies outside of London and started in the three months to April were on average 5.1 per cent higher than in the same period of last year - very slightly up on the 4.9 per cent recorded on the three months to March. 

In the capital, meanwhile, rents on new tenancies signed over the three months to the end of April were 7.7 per cent higher than a year ago, the third successive month that London has registered this quarterly rate of increase.

The latest figures show that rents in Scotland are currently rising faster than anywhere else in the UK, with new tenancies costing 11.4 per cent more than in the same period a year ago. The East Midlands, registering a rise of 7.9 per cent, is next. 

London’s rental market, where the average rent on a new tenancy is now £1,543, also continues to see rents rise more quickly than in most other areas of the country.  

The regional figures are:

South east England: Average rent three months to April £963; Annual variation + 5.1%

East Midlands: Average rent three months to April £646; Annual variation + 7.9%

Greater London: Average rent three months to April £1,543; Annual variation + 7.7%

South west England: Average rent three months to April £891; Annual variation + 3.2%

East Anglia: Average rent three months to April £809; Annual variation + 4.3%

Northern Ireland: Average rent three months to April £608; Annual variation + 3.0%

Yorkshire and Humberside: Average rent three months to April £627; Annual variation + 4.8%

West Midlands: Average rent three months to April £659; Annual variation + 2.2%

Wales: Average rent three months to April £597; Annual variation + 4.3%

North east England: Average rent three months to April £532; Annual variation + 1.6%

Scotland: Average rent three months to April £704; Annual variation + 11.4%

North west England: Average rent three months to April £659; Annual variation - 1.0%