Advertised Rents Reach Record High in UK Property Market

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Rents Reach An Average of £1,291 Outside of London According to Rightmove

Rightmove’s latest analysis shows that the rental market is ‘extremely busy’. Though there’s some improvement from its peak, around 50,000 rental properties are still needed to reach the pre-pandemic level.

There are 11% more rental properties available than last year, but it’s still 26% below 2019 levels. Meanwhile, the number of tenants searching for homes has decreased by 17% from last year but remains 54% higher than in 2019.

Letting agents continue to struggle to meet tenant demand, with an average of 13 enquiries per rental property. While this has dropped from 19 a year ago, it is still almost triple the average in March 2019 (5).

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What Is the Latest Rightmove Data on Rents?

Affordability-constrained tenants may find some relief in the slowing pace of rent growth, but prices remain at record highs.

According to Rightmove data, the average advertised rent for new properties entering the market has reached a new record for the 17th consecutive time.

Outside of London, the average monthly rental price is now £1,291, which means buy-to-let investments could see increased yields.

In London, there is a noticeable deceleration in rental price growth. However, rents are still increasing, albeit by only two pounds this month, reaching a new high of £2,633 per month.

This indicates that average rents in the capital are now 5.3% higher than last year, with the growth rate steadily declining since the peak of 16.1% in Q3 2022.

While average rents continue to rise, there’s evidence of increased strain on tenant affordability, with rental price reductions reaching a five-year high for this period.

Currently, 22% of rental properties are experiencing price reductions, up from 16% last year, marking the highest level since 2019. This suggests that more landlords are adjusting rents to match local affordability.

The largest homes, categorised as top-of-the-ladder properties, such as four-bedroom detached houses and those with five bedrooms or more, are most likely to undergo price reductions. Presently, 30% of these properties have reduced prices, setting a new record dating back to 2012.

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What Did the Experts Make of the Data?

Rightmove’s Tim Bannister said: “The rental market is no longer at peak boiling point, but it remains at a very hot simmer. Looking at data across the whole market, we can see some slow improvements for tenants with more choice and competition with other tenants slowly starting to ease.

“However, tenants may not feel the benefit of some of these improvements in their local market, as the balance between supply and demand remains so far from pre-pandemic levels. The fact that even with some improvements to the level of supply, we are still nearly 50,000 properties behind the pre-pandemic market is a stark reminder that the industry needs more good quality rental homes, and we need to encourage investment from landlords to provide them.”

Meanwhile, Rightmove’s lettings expert, Christian Balshen, said: “Whilst demand is gently easing and the supply of available properties is increasing, the market is still unable to fulfil the demand for rental properties, as it has been since the pandemic. It is clear that letting agents are still receiving a large number of enquiries for each UK property investment which they market.

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Author

Dale Barham

Dale is a property content writer at RWinvest. Keeping a close eye on the UK property market, Dale helps our readers stay informed and up to date on the latest market news and statistics.