Average UK rent up 1.5% in a year says HomeLet

HomeLet’s latest snapshot of the lettings market suggests that the average UK rent is now £918 pcm - that’s 1.5 per cent more than this time last year

When London is excluded the average rent is now £760; this is up by 0.9 per cent on last year.

Meanwhile average rents in London are now £1,597, up by 4.4 per cent in 12 months. 

The largest annual increase reported by HomeLet this month is Greater London, up 4.4 per cent, while the largest year-on-year decrease this month is the North East showing a 3.0 per cent difference between November 2017 and November 2018    

Commenting on this month’s data, Martin Totty, chief executive at HomeLet, says: “Although on the increase, on average UK rents are rising slower than inflation at just 1.5%.

“However, there are some areas of the country showing more extreme variance. It’s no surprise that London rents are continuing to rise at nearly double the rate of inflation, having seen a 4.4 per cent increase since November 2017. 

“Meanwhile Yorkshire and Humberside has seen the greatest decrease in the last 12 months; despite a modest 0.4 per cent rise since October 2018, the region’s annual variance is negative three per cent.”

The trends reported within the HomeLet Rental Index are brand new tenancies, which were arranged in the most recent period.