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Average rent rises to £1,327 a month

Average rent rises to £1,327 a month
Christina Hoghton
Written By:
Posted:
15/01/2025
Updated:
15/01/2025

Renters are being squeezed harder, with a 9% rise in rents recorded in the last year.

Average UK private rents were up by 9% in the 12 months to December 2024, down from 9.1% a month earlier.

That’s according to the government’s Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR), which said the average rent is now £1,327.

The Index noted that average rents increased to £1,369 (9.2%) in England, £777 (8.5%) in Wales and £991 (6.9%) in Scotland, in the 12 months to December 2024.

In Northern Ireland, average rents increased by 8.6% in the 12 months to October 2024.

In England, rent inflation was highest in London (11.5%) and lowest in Yorkshire and The Humber (5.4%), in the 12 months to December 2024.

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Sarah Coles, head of personal financeat Hargreaves Lansdown said: “Renters were engulfed by more rent rise misery in December, pushing more of them to the brink.

“The rate of rises has eased very slightly, but that will come as no comfort to anyone facing a 9% overnight hike in the cost of keeping a roof over their head.”

Alex Upton, managing director, specialist mortgages & bridging finance at Hampshire Trust Bank, added: “Rents are climbing fast, and there’s no sign of this slowing. The latest ONS data is yet another reminder of just how out of balance the rental market is.

“Rightmove’s recent figures show that enquiries per rental listing are almost double what they were before the pandemic, while Propertymark’s Housing Insight Report highlights that letting agents now juggle around seven prospective tenants for every available property. With this ongoing disparity, 2025 looks set to be a record-breaking year for rents.”