Stock shortages drive double digit rent rises, insists agency

Hamptons says rental growth across Britain in March posted its third ever double-digit increase since the agency records began almost a decade ago.

Double-digit rental growth has previously only been recorded in May 2022, February 2023 and now March 2023.

In March, last month, the average rent for a newly let home reached £1,236 per month.  This is 10.8 per cent or £121pcm higher than the same month last year. March also saw the second fastest increase posted in any month after the 11.5 per cent increase in May 2022.

Rental growth continues to be led by London with average rents rising 16.2 per cent, faster than anywhere else in the country.  

Inner London saw rents rise 18.5 per cent over the last year to reach £3,046, with rents surpassing the £3,000 mark for just the second month running.  

Meanwhile the 15.6 per cent growth posted in Outer London marks the fastest annual increase on record and takes average rents here to £2,013 per month.

Scotland continues to bear the brunt of the rental stock shortage, with the number of homes on the market down 39 per cent year-on-year, more than in any other region by at least 10 percentage points.

Aneisha Beveridge, research chief at Hamptons, says: “While house price growth continues to slow, rents keep moving in the opposite direction.  

“Tenants find themselves with a little more choice than they did last year, which has been reflected in a 10 per cent increase in the number of tenants moving home.  

“However, the number of rental homes on the market seems to have found a new normal at nearly two-thirds below pre-pandemic levels.”