Pandemic means Inner London rents now little higher than Outer

Plummeting inner London rents mean the gap between central and outer areas of the capital is now far less than before.

Data from lettings agency Hamptons suggests that while rental growth for all of London combined remained positive for the fourth straight month - rising 1.0 per cent compared to January 2020 - there’s actually an Inner-Outer divide.

Inner London rents are falling 15.9 per cent year-on-year says Hamptons, while Outer London rents are rising 6.2 per cent.  

This pandemic-induced divide means Inner London rents stand just 24 per cent higher than Outer London rents, down from a differential of 100 per cent back in April 2013.

Given the average home in Inner London cost £2,213 per month in January, rents in London’s inner zones now cost 17 per cent less than they did eight years ago in January 2013 when the agency’s index began.

Looking at Great Britain as a whole, Hamptons says average annual rental growth picked up for the sixth month, rising 4.3 per cent last month, up from 4.1 per cent in December.  

The South East topped the rental growth stakes, recording a 10.0 per cent increase in rents over the last 12 months: this was the first time a region outside London recorded double-digit rental growth since Hamptons’ records began in 2012.

This growth has been driven by falling numbers of rental homes on the market, with 14 per cent fewer rental properties available to rent than in January 2020.  

With the exception of London, every region recorded double-digit falls in the number of rental homes on the market between January 2020 and January 2021.

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