ONS Launches New Tool For Property and Rental Price Research at Local Level

For property investors searching for buy-to-let opportunities, research is key to finding the right location for an investment. While there is a wealth of reliable and up-to-date resources at a national and regional level, there are not as many for smaller, local areas that you may want to look into.

That’s why it’s good news for investors that the Office of National Statistics has just launched a new tool that displays how property prices and the private rental sector are changing in local authority areas across Britain.

While the ONS will continue releasing their main bulletin for the whole UK and its regions, revealing rental inflation in the private sector and updating its House Price Index, now there will also be an up-to-date and accessible resource detailing this information at a local level.

Further Reading: Find out about buy-to-let properties in London or investing in Birmingham with our online guides and insights.

Location research is imperative when making a property investment, so what are the best resources for conducting this?

The most reliable information comes from the HM Land Registry and the Office of National Statistics. The Land Registry releases a complete House Price Index (HPI), and the ONS publishes a Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR). Their reports are updated monthly and based on official government data, making them the most comprehensive resources freely available online.

However, as these are government resources, extra time is taken to ensure the data is as reliable and error-free as possible. This means these reports are behind compared to other house price and rental indices. For example, the next UK HPI will be published on 17th April 2024, but it will detail statistics for February 2024.

Therefore, it’s also worth looking at more up-to-date indices and government data. For this, many investors will read reports from online property portals such as Zoopla and Rightmove or mortgage providers such as Nationwide and Halifax. While these aren’t as comprehensive as government publications, as they are based on more limited information, they release monthly data updates from the previous month, making them more timely. The research is also often accompanied by industry experts’ commentary, helping to contextualise the trends.

Learn more about the UK property market with our dedicated buy-to-let area guides, covering topics such as investment property available in Ipswich and buy-to-let Battersea.