Rents rising everywhere - except London

The UK’s average rent is now £984, showing a three per cent increase on last year according to HomeLet.

But there’s a yawning gap between London and the rest of the country. Rents outside London are growing at the highest rate ever: when London is excluded, the UK’s average rent is £840, showing an increase of 6.2 per cent on last year.

Ten of the 12 UK metropolitan regions monitored by HomeLet showed a year on year increase in rental values between February 2020 and February 2021. The East Midlands saw the most significant growth at 8.1 per cent.

However, rents in London continue to fall year on year showing a 4.7 per cent drop between February 2020 and February 2021 - the ninth decrease in annual variance in subsequent months.  And 11 of the 21 London borough groupings monitored by HomeLet continue to show a year on year decrease in rental values against 2020.

The average annual rent in the UK is now £11,808.

Commenting on the data, Andy Halstead - HomeLet and Let Alliance chief executive - says: “Those in the lettings sector warned of the Tenants Fees Act’s unintended consequences, along with the impact of the continued assault on landlords through policies that disincentives property investment. 

“We’ve seen the volume of UK landlords dip, whilst supply from tenants has continued to grow. Landlords have to charge more to cover their essential costs, including professional letting agents’ valued services. 

“Ultimately this pushes increased rents back on to tenants, the same group who supposedly should have benefited from legislation like the Tenants Fees Act.

“The situation with Covid is only making this trend much more pronounced. We have high demand areas where stock levels have remained flat or even declined because tenants want to rent for longer and fewer landlords are investing in property.”