Rental growth slows to five-year low

Rental prices in England are increasing at the slowest pace for five years, the latest Landbay Rental Index shows.

Rents in England, excluding London, are up by just 1.18% over the past 12 months, which is the slowest annual growth since April 2013.

But despite the recent slowdown, rents have increased by 10.23% over the past five years, according to the data provided from Landbay.

Rental growth has been led by the East of England, where landlords have seen rental prices increase by 14.67% over the corresponding period.

But despite overall growth, rental prices have actually continued to fall in London, with May witnessing the 17th consecutive month that prices remained in negative territory in the city.

However, over a five-year period rents in the capital have increased by 6.88%, and, with 17 out of the 33 London Boroughs now in positive territory, the signs are that rents in the city will make a recovery to positive growth in the coming months.

The average rent in the UK now stands at £1,234, but falls to £769, when excluding the capital.

John Goodall, CEO and co-founder of Landbay said: “Landlords have been faced with a number of challenges over the past two years, from stricter regulation, reductions to tax relief, and a significant stamp duty tax hike when buying a buy-to-let property.

“Some might have expected this pressure to push up rents, though low interest rates and the Bank of England’s Term Funding Scheme (TFS) have kept the cost of borrowing down and allowed landlords to shoulder some of the costs.

 “With a rate rise being just around the corner, and the TFS now having ended, things could be about to change. While we are unlikely to see an immediate impact, the pace of rental growth may well speed up in the latter half of this year as landlords look to price in the changes that have been building up for some time.”

Want to comment on this story? Our focus is on providing a platform for you to share your insights and views and we welcome contributions.
If any post is considered to victimise, harass, degrade or intimidate an individual or group of individuals, then the post may be deleted and the individual immediately banned from posting in future.
Please help us by reporting comments you consider to be unduly offensive so we can review and take action if necessary. Thank you.