Rental market picking up steam - even in London

There is mounting evidence that rental growth is picking up steam, according to the latest analysis by Countrywide brand Hamptons.

Average rents across Britain have now been rising for two successive months but it’s doubled - from an annual rate of growth of 1.4 per cent in October to 3.0 per cent in November. 

All nine regions in England saw the rate of rental growth accelerate between October and November; however rents in Wales fell by 3.4 per cent, the third consecutive month of falls in the Principality.

A month after rental growth in Great Britain turned positive for the first time since March, rents also began to rise in the capital following eight months of falls.  

London rents rose annually by 0.3 per cent, the smallest increase anywhere in England: it did little to improve on the annual collapse in rents in the capital.

The average rental property in Inner London cost 12.7 per cent less than it did in November 2019; however, in Outer London rents are 3.8 per cent higher.

Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, says: “The rental market has shown signs that it is shaking off its Covid-induced hangover with rents rising in every region of England for the first time since March.  

“With nearly a fifth fewer new rental homes coming onto the market than last year, it has put upward pressure on the recovery in rental growth.  It is, however, likely that the homes being bought by landlords now will hit the rental market early next year which could serve to stifle rental growth in 2021.”