Affordability Crisis: rents near ceiling in some regi...

Affordability limits have been reached in several regions of the UK, the Home property website suggests.

While some regions are still recording eye watering annual rises - for example, 18.0 per cent in Scotland and 11.1 per cent in the north east of England - other regions such as the south west are showing far lower rises.

Greater London is now one of the worst-performing regions at just 1.8 per cent annual rent growth due to a large increase in supply year-on-year.

Eight prime boroughs now show year-on-year falls, Home says, while the all-Britain yearly rise now coming in at 6.1 per cent on average - a drop from 9.7 per cent just a month ago.

Home says that the long term strength of the rental market remains a key factor in supporting the sales market.

High demand has meant letting is both a profitable and speedy alternative to selling, while the high cost of renting supports demand from homebuyers and investors alike.

Across Britain, rents are 49 per cent higher than they were five years ago.

In the sales market prices fell by 0.6 per cent during October in line with seasonal expectations.

The total stock of unsold properties on the market also fell, as is normal towards the end of the year.

Overall, despite higher borrowing costs, Home insists that the current market indicates clear similarities to that of pre-Covid years 2018 and 2019 in terms of price movements and stock levels, although lower Typical Time on Market for unsold property and tighter supply suggest a somewhat more robust marketplace and therefore greater price support.