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Rents rising across the UK, except in London

Christina Hoghton
Written By:
Christina Hoghton
Posted:
Updated:
06/10/2020

Demand for rental property is falling in the capital, but is still holding firm across the rest of the UK

The average rent in the UK rose to £987 in September, according to Homelet.

The landlord insurance business said this is 0.2% higher than in August, and up 2.1% on last year.

When London is excluded, the average rent in the UK is lower at £828, but has risen by a greater amount, up 0.4% on last month, and 3.9% on last year.

Rising rents

Ten out of 12 regions showed rising rents between September 2019 and September 2020, with the South West seeing the highest increase of 6.6%.

Managing director of Barrows and Forrester, James Forrester, said: “We’re yet to see demand for UK rental properties decline across the vast majority of the market, despite the issues posed by the wider pandemic such as an increase in unemployment and a heightened level of rental arrears.

“While we did see a fall in rental prices following lockdown, an easing of restrictions has seen the market bounce back at a similar rate to that of the housing market.

“This has been due to those who were stuck in limbo being able to resume with their rental plans and as always, an insufficient level of stock to meet this demand has seen rental prices climb sharply with the more affordable regions of the UK performing much better.”

London falling

However, average rents in London are down over the year, showing a 2.8% fall between September 2019 and September 2020.

Marc von Grundherr, director of Benham and Reeves, said: “The London market is suffering on two fronts. Not only is domestic rental demand waning, but we’ve also seen a reduction in foreign rental demand which is delivering a second blow.

“As a result, agents are slashing rents by as much as a third in an attempt to entice tenants and recoup some form of income for their clients.”