Rents have increased by 3.4 per cent across the UK on average over the past year - rather less than the various measures of general inflation.
Data from the Office for National Statistics break the UK down into the component nations.
So rents in England grew by 3.4 per cent in the same period - the same figure as for the whole UK - while Scotland’s annual rental growth is 3.6 per cent.
Rent in Wales grew by 2.5 per cent while the annual growth rate for Northern Ireland was a strident 8.4 per cent.
Within England the East Midlands recorded the largest annual rent increase of 4.5 per cent with London the lowest on 2.5 per cent.
In a comment on the data, London lettings giant Foxtons says August saw the highest level of tenant demand it had ever recorded.
Lettings director Gareth Atkins says: “There are 43 per cent fewer properties available to rent in the London market. This huge imbalance between supply and demand may cause an unseasonably busy Q4 to come.”
And PropTech firm Flatfair says with renters are “stuck between a rock and a hard place – unable to afford a house but barely able to afford rent” and it wants policymakers “to be directing their attention toward Generation Rent.”
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There are 2 differing kinds of rent raises, there are the rent raises for excising tenants which we generally keep quite low, then there are the increases made when reletting to a new tenant which tend to be at full market rent
Agree. It would be interesting to see a survey done on rent increases for existing tenants. Or decrease in rent due to inflation. Bet that would upset the activists.
Rent controls would ensure all rents kept pace with inflation.
Perhaps we should be backing them?
I have one property on an old protected tenancy, I am allowed to increase the rent every 2 yrs by inflation, so I do, I would be a fool not to, So if rent controls come in all rents will increase by inflation as often as is allowed , shot in foot or what ?
As Andrew says existing tenants often have very low or no rent increases. People who have a proven track record of paying their rent and looking after their homes sometimes go for several years without a rent increase.
I've just done my first ever rent increases for tenants in bills inclusive HMOs. Some of them have been in situ for over 5 years and this is the first increase in all that time. I ran the rents through a CPI calculator which said the increases should be between £43 and £96 per month. I then settled on between £25 and £70 per month. So although it's an increase it's much lower than CPI and a fraction of the increased utility costs.
Newly vacant properties are a different matter. A quick look on Rightmove or SpareRoom at comparables is the starting point. There's usually multiple applicants, the last time I heard a request for a discount was well over a year ago and this year I've actually had people offering more than the advertised rent or several months up front.
The last time anyone asked me for a discount was in 2008, I remember it well
Andrew
Hope you have fully recovered now?
What a terrible experience! It would have driven me to drink!
Sadly if your rents are currently below market rents then that’s where they’ll stay and never be allowed to catch up on similar or worse properties.
Whatever happened to market forces ! Seems like a means of deflecting criticism from the horrendous immigration going on.
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