Stagnant London market weighs down on national rental growth

A slow rental market in London is weighing down on growth across the rest of the UK, according to the latest Landbay Rental Index.

The data suggests the average rent for a property in the UK grew by 0.96% in the year to April, with growth of just 0.66% in the capital.

Meanwhile, the rest of the UK recorded impressive growth of 1.11% during the same period.

The highest national year-on-year rental growth was recorded in Scotland at 1.78%m with an average rent of £750. Scottish locations Edinburgh City (5.4%), Glasgow City (2.59%) and East Lothian are three of the UK's top performers when it comes to annual growth. 

Wales has also performed strongly, with national growth of 1.26% and respective growth of 4.65% and 3.92% in the towns of Merthyr Tydfil and Blaenau Gwent.

England's strongest performing area is Nottingham (3.84%), with Rutland (2.56%) and Leicester (2.33%) also recording high levels of annual rental growth.

In the South, North Somerset (2.39%) and South Gloucestershire (2.25%) have recorded impressive growth, with the South West region as a whole reporting growth of 1.24%.

According to Landbay, high rents in London continue to skew national figures. The UK average rent is currently £1,218 per month. However, this figure drops to £773 when the capital is discounted.

"Landlords can rest assured that there is decent rental growth to be found across the UK, particularly if they look north of London," says John Goodall, chief executive and co-founder of Landbay. 

"On the face of it, landlords have had a tough time in the past few years, from increased regulatory pressure to a significant increase in stamp duty costs, yet they have managed to shoulder many of these costs without passing them onto tenants," he says.

UK Rental Index by country (all beds)

Landbay Rental Index, powered by MIAC: Regions (All Beds)

Annual % change (all beds) - Top 10 in the UK