Data collected by housing market tracker Rightmove reveals that the UK average rental price has risen at the fastest pace in history.

Rightmove’s quarterly real estate development report shows that the average asking price per calendar month is £1,068 outside London and £2,142 in the capital. This represents a nearly 10 per cent growth for most UK regions and an increase of over 6 per cent for London.

Rightmove also predicts that prices will increase by another 5 per cent this year, as the competition between tenants for available real estate, has almost doubled compared to last year. The number of available properties also decreased by half compared to
the same period last year, which led to properties being rented for 17 days on average. In turn, the average rental yield is the highest in the UK since 2016 (5,5 per cent).

https://twitter.com/ONS/status/1483733887582941186?s=20&t=PFEzJooZHyjYms4pHiJvRA

Rising rents have outpaced house price increases in all regions except the East Midlands, Southwest, and Southeast, Rightmove also reports. In both Wales and the North-West region, the annual rental price increased by over 12,5 per cent. In London, there was a record annual increase of 11 per cent, and asking prices in the capital are now 3 per cent higher than before the outbreak of the pandemic.

The impact of the pandemic is also felt in smaller towns – for example, the town of Pontypool in Monmouthshire, Wales, recorded the largest annual increase in rental prices of any local area (20 per cent), from £562 a month to £674.

Cover photo: British Poles
Author: Sebastien Meuwissen