Average rent still below £1,000 pcm - but only just

The average rent in the UK has risen 1.5 per cent in just a month, but it is still a fraction under £1,000 pcm.

When London is excluded the average UK rent is £808 and with the capital included it’s £965 according to insurance service HomeLet.

Ten of the 12 regions monitored by HomeLet showed an increase over the past year, with two up by over 4.5 per cent. 

But London, by contrast, saw rents drop 3.2 per cent between July 2019 and last month. The South East also shows a yearly decrease, by 1.8 per cent. 

The region with the largest year-on-year rent rise was the North West, showing a 6.5 per cent increase. 

“Demand for new tenancies is still strong, HomeLet received the same volume of property applications for tenant reference checks this month as the same month last year. That coupled with the steadily increasing rents is positive for the sector, but there’s naturally caution around what could happen over the coming months” explains Martin Totty, chief executive at HomeLet.

Region	Jul-20	Jun-20	Jul-19	Monthly Variance	Annual Variance
North West	£773	£758	£726	2.00%	6.50%
Yorkshire & Humberside	£670	£658	£641	1.80%	4.50%
South West	£876	£858	£855	2.10%	2.50%
Scotland	£692	£692	£679	0.00%	1.90%
East Midlands	£656	£651	£646	0.80%	1.50%
West Midlands	£721	£714	£709	1.00%	1.70%
North East	£535	£525	£529	1.90%	1.10%
East of England	£932	£917	£925	1.60%	0.80%
Northern Ireland	£674	£659	£671	2.30%	0.40%
Wales	£638	£636	£637	0.30%	0.20%
South East	£1,034	£1,022	£1,053	1.20%	-1.80%
Greater London	£1,611	£1,583	£1,665	1.80%	-3.20%
UK	£965	£951	£959	1.50%	0.60%
UK excluding Greater London	£808	£797	£794	1.40%	1.80%