UK rents increase further, Homelet says

Annual rental price growth in the UK increased in June, HomeLet said on Tuesday.

The latest HomeLet Rental Index shows that the annual rate of rental price inflation hit 1.8% in June, although this remains lower than the UK consumer price index of 2.4% recorded last month.

The average UK rent for a new tenancy starting in June was £924 per calendar month (pcm), which is higher than the same month last year and £5 more when compared to May 2017, based on HomeLet’s data.

When London, where the average rent stands at £1,596pcm, is excluded, the average rent in the UK is now £767pcm, which is up by 1.3% on last year

Rents increased in 10 of the 12 areas of the country monitored by the HomeLet Rental Index between May and June 2018, with only Wales and the North East seeing a monthly decrease.

As well as this, Wales has seen the average rental price fall by 0.8% over the last year, the only region to see a decrease in prices in the last 12 months.

Northern Ireland recorded the highest rate of rental price inflation last month, with rents that were, on average, 5.1% higher year-on-year.

The region with the largest month-on-month increase was the West Midlands, showing a 1.6% different between May and June 2018

Martin Totty, chief executive of Barbon Insurance Group, HomeLet’s parent company, said: “The data used in the Rental Index gives us a forward-looking view of the rental market. Over the next quarter I think there are a lot of factors at play in the Private Rented Sector (PRS) both demand for and supply of properties impacting average rents.

“We don’t yet know if the government’s squeeze on private landlords via taxation changes and more regulation will discourage their continued participation in this important sector and begin to reduce supply. Any constriction of the number of properties available for rent can’t be good news for tenants if all it achieves is to increase rents.

“However, the demand for rental properties remains strong and will continue in the near term, which has to be positive for property owners. If some landlords do choose to sell up there are many who will see that as an opportunity to improve their yields as demand still exceeds supply, a point many commentators have made via the many consultations government have invited on their proposals for the PRS.”

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