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Average UK rents up 2.1% in 12 months to August

Average rents across the UK increased by 2.1% in August when compared with a month earlier, according to the latest data and analysis from Homelet.

The average rent across the UK now stands at £985 a month, the latest figures show. 

Rental values between August 2019 and August 2020 increased in 11 of the 12 regions monitored by the research, with two of those regions seeing a rise of more than 5%.

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Looking on an annual basis, 10 of the 12 regions monitored by HomeLet showed an increase in rental values between July 2019 and July 2020, with two of those regions seeing a rise of more than 4.5%.

The South West led the way with a yearly increase of 5.5% between August 2019 and August 2020.

 

But average rents in London are down year-on-year, showing a 2.1% fall between August 2019 and August 2020, the fourth decrease in annual variance in subsequent months.

Despite the dip, the average rental value in London, which stood at £1,653 a month, was still 100% higher than the rest of the UK excluding London at £825 a month.

Martin Totty, chief executive at HomeLet, said: Throughout the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, private landlords must feel that they alone are shouldering much of the burden to support those tenants who have been financially impacted. Property owners are having to dig deep to find the requisite reserves of resilience and resolve to ‘stay the course’.

“The situation has been exacerbated further by the last minute and very material amendments to government policy, when landlords have shown the flexibility demanded of them to help their tenants’ bridge their contractual obligations.

“Whilst there are many stories of constructive dialogue between landlords and tenants on existing tenancy terms, it’s encouraging that rents agreed on new tenancies in August, in every region outside London, are up on the same month last year and, in almost all regions, ahead of where they were only one month previously. London may be experiencing a correction of sorts in supply versus demand and the sharp reversal of price growth from positive 4% pre-Covid to negative 2% now, represents a significant swing.

“Elsewhere, average monthly rents are edging up on both a monthly basis and also on a long-term smoothed trend which removes the month on month fluctuations to provide a clearer trend line over time. Outside the capital, the rental sector still appears to offer sound fundamentals and, for committed landlords able to manage through the current challenges, having access to a wide range of financial protection solutions via professional letting agents, there are some bright spots to add into the mix.”

Region

Aug-20

Aug-19

Annual Variation

Jul-20

Monthly Variation

South West

£899

£852

5.5%

£876

2.6%

North West

£781

£741

5.4%

£773

1.0%

Yorkshire & Humberside

£678

£655

3.5%

£670

1.2%

Scotland

£692

£671

3.1%

£692

0.0%

North East

£546

£531

2.8%

£535

2.1%

West Midlands

£739

£720

2.6%

£721

2.5%

East Of England

£954

£930

2.6%

£932

2.4%

East Midlands

£670

£655

2.3%

£656

2.1%

Wales

£641

£636

0.8%

£638

0.5%

Northern Ireland

£668

£664

0.6%

£674

-0.9%

South East

£1,070

£1,064

0.6%

£1,034

3.5%

Greater London

£1,653

£1,689

-2.1%

£1,611

2.6%

UK

£985

£970

1.5%

£965

2.1%

UK excluding Greater London

£825

£802

2.9%

£808

2.1%

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