Rental demand staying high despite approach of Christmas

The latest Rental Index from PropTech firm Goodlord has shown that year-on-year rents are up by 7.3 per cent across England compared to November 2022 figures. 

The average price per property in November 2022 was £1,087. This compares to today’s figure of £1,166.  

When looking at specific regions, the biggest year-on-year change for confirmed November rents is seen in the North West, where prices are up by 11 per cent compared to last November. 

The majority of other regions - the East Midlands, North East, South East, South West and West Midlands - have all seen rises of over seven per cent.

Despite the onset of what is traditionally a slower season for lettings, sustained market demand saw rents hold broadly steady in November when compared to October figures. Rents are marginally down (by less than two per cent) compared to October, with average rents for new tenancies at £1,166 across England. 

This follows a long-established trend of confirmed rents dipping slightly between October and November - with a month-on-month decrease recorded by the Index for five years in a row (2019-2023). 

The East Midlands, South East, and West Midlands saw almost no movement in prices during November; with shifts of less than one per cent. 

The biggest change was recorded in Greater London - a region which has seen a reduction in rents between October and November each year since 2019. Last month, Greater London saw a four per cent drop in average rent for new tenancy agreements. This follows an intense period of price escalation in the capital and takes average prices for new tenancies back to their June and July levels.

The average void period lengthened from 18 days to 20 days during November, an 11 per cent increase. This average - 20 days - is the same void period as recorded in November 2022. 

Numbers held fairly steady across the majority of regions when compared to October. The South East, however, was the only region to record shorter void periods over the last month - where averages dropped from 18 days to 17. 

The most notable changes to void periods were recorded in Greater London (up from 12 days to 16) and the South West (up from 16 days to 26). 

The average salary of a renter confirming a new tenancy in November was £36,871, a slight increase of two per cent on October’s figure of £36,135. 

The average age of tenants taking out tenancies in November was 34, a slight increase on the 2023-to-date average of 33 years.