Private rents in Great Britain have soared to fresh all-time highs and the average amount being asked for outside London is now a third higher than four years ago, figures from Rightmove show.
Despite rental growth running well ahead of inflation, the property website said homes were continuing to be let quickly, with many landlords “still being met with long queues of prospective tenants wanting to view and rent their property”.
Rightmove said the typical advertised private rent outside London had risen to a new record of £1,231 per calendar month, while the equivalent figure in the capital was more than double that, at £2,567. Annual rental growth in hotspot locations such as Edinburgh and Luton is running at more than 20%.
The dramatic rise has been blamed largely on demand greatly outstripping supply, and has been exacerbated by landlords with buy-to-let mortgages trying to pass on sharp increases in their costs caused by higher interest rates. Big rises in the cost of new fixed-rate home loan deals have prompted some to ratchet up the rent and others to sell their properties.
Rightmove said tenant demand continued to “exceed even last year’s frenetic levels”. That demand is 3% greater than at this time in 2022, and 42% higher than in June 2019.
Meanwhile, the average available rental property is rented out in 17 days – the shortest period since November 2022. Average asking rents outside London were 9.3% higher in June than a year ago.
There have been even bigger annual rises in some other cities and towns, piling extra pressure on those looking for a roof over their head. In Edinburgh, average advertised rents have jumped by 24.2% in the past year. In Luton, Bedfordshire, the annual increase was 22.4%, while in Staines, Surrey, it was 20.3%.
Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s director of property science innovation, said: “There will continue to be more tenants looking to move than properties for them to move to for a while yet.
“Average asking rents for new tenants have risen at a rapid pace since the pandemic, reflecting the significant increase in demand, which is driven by a combination of factors, including changed housing needs – such as some space to work from home.”