Most areas of England and Wales have seen rental price growth over the past 12 months, but where are rents increasing fastest?
According to the latest Landbay Rental Index, powered by MIAC, rents in the UK grew by an average of 0.69% year-on-year in February, led by gains in the East Midlands.
The data shows that rents in the East Midlands are rising three times faster than the UK average, with rents up 2.24% year-on-year.
At a county level, the most substantial rental growth in the region was recorded in Leicester where rents are up 3.42%, followed by Nottingham where rents increased by 3.30%.
The region with the second fastest pace of rental growth is the East of England, where rents grew by 1.58%. Within the region, Peterborough (2.99%) and Cambridgeshire (2.24%) both saw considerable growth, while in Luton rents fell by -0.13%, having been among the fastest growing counties at this point last year (4.83%).
The data suggests that renting remains more affordable in the East Midlands at an average of £626 per calendar month (pcm), while the average UK rent, according to Landbay, now stands at £1,199pcm.
London unsurprisingly, is still the most expensive place to rent property, at an average of £1,878pcm.
John Goodall, CEO and founder of Landbay said: “Much like Britain’s weather, rental growth was heavily impacted by the East in February. With its more affordable rents, the East is seemingly becoming an increasingly attractive buy-to-let region and as a result greater competition is driving up rents.
“Landlords hoping to capitalise on high demand in the East should pay close attention to the number of bedrooms in the property before making their purchase. Demand for two-bed homes appears to be severely lagging other sizes.
“At a national level, an uplift in rents has been on the cards for a while and is likely to continue into 2018. The Prime Minister has this week vowed to get tough with property developers who sit on planning permissions, but if we truly want to control rental and house price growth we need to build more homes, not just plan them.
“Areas in the East Midlands and East of England, such as Leicester and Nottingham, where rental growth is reaching particularly unsustainable levels, should be the prioritised focus for the government, developers and landlords.”
UK Rental Index by country
FEB 18
|
YoY %
|
MoM %
|
Av. £
|
UK
|
0.69%
|
0.05%
|
1,199
|
UK without London
|
1.27%
|
0.08%
|
761
|
England
|
0.64%
|
0.05%
|
1,231
|
Scotland
|
1.29%
|
0.08%
|
732
|
Wales
|
1.45%
|
0.09%
|
646
|
Northern Ireland
|
1.47%
|
0.22%
|
568
|
UK Rental Index by number of beds
FEB 18
|
One bed
|
Two bed
|
Three bed
|
|
YoY
%
|
MoM
%
|
Av. £
|
YoY
%
|
MoM
%
|
Av. £
|
YoY
%
|
MoM
%
|
Av. £
|
UK
|
0.65%
|
0.06%
|
1,019
|
0.64%
|
0.06%
|
1,160
|
0.85%
|
0.04%
|
1,333
|
UK without London
|
1.21%
|
0.08%
|
600
|
1.16%
|
0.09%
|
716
|
1.39%
|
0.08%
|
829
|
England
|
0.60%
|
0.06%
|
1,053
|
0.59%
|
0.05%
|
1,195
|
0.80%
|
0.05%
|
1,353
|
Scotland
|
1.15%
|
0.04%
|
551
|
1.22%
|
0.13%
|
696
|
1.28%
|
-0.08%
|
1,127
|
Wales
|
1.52%
|
0.15%
|
549
|
1.32%
|
0.11%
|
660
|
1.49%
|
0.11%
|
619
|
Northern Ireland
|
1.30%
|
-0.09%
|
444
|
1.39%
|
0.21%
|
548
|
2.22%
|
0.38%
|
586
|
UK Rental Index by region
FEB 18
|
YoY %
|
MoM
%
|
Av. £
|
East England
|
1.58%
|
0.09%
|
910
|
East Midlands
|
2.24%
|
0.13%
|
626
|
London
|
-0.39%
|
0.00%
|
1,878
|
North East
|
0.53%
|
0.03%
|
553
|
North West
|
1.09%
|
0.06%
|
619
|
South East
|
0.73%
|
0.08%
|
1,053
|
South West
|
1.57%
|
0.10%
|
748
|
West Midlands
|
1.54%
|
0.06%
|
685
|
Yorkshire and Humberside
|
1.36%
|
0.09%
|
577
|
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