Average rents rising across the UK as regions catch up with London growth

The average rent on a tenancy signed in the UK during the three months to April 2015 was £916, some 10% higher than a year ago, according to the latest index to be published.

The data from the HomeLet rental index also shows that excluding London the rise is 7.4% taking average rents to £730 and rents are rising across the country apart from Wales.

In Scotland average rents increased annually by 6.2% to £635, in Northern Ireland they were up 5.2% to £594, but in Wales they fell by 0.7% to £573.

It also reveals that after a year of rents in London rising at over twice the rate of the UK average, growth rates have now converged with the annual increase in Greater London at 7.5%.

On a regional basis the South West has seen the highest annual growth at 15.5% followed by East Anglia at 8.4%, taking the average in these regions to £877 and £778 respectively.

Rents are up annually by 7.9% in the West Midlands, by 7.4% in the South East and by 4.3% in Yorkshire and Humber, taking average rents to £645, £916 and £598 respectively. In the North East they are up 3.9% to £526, in the North West 3.8% to £668 and in the East Midlands 3.4% to £588.

The monthly figures show more variation with Yorkshire and Humber seeing a fall of 2.1%, a decline of 1.1% in the East Midlands and a fall of 0.5% in the North West.

‘For the first time we are seeing rent price growth rates in Greater London converge with those across the rest of the UK. During 2014, London rent price growth far outpaced other regions but in 2015 we are seeing the emergence of a different pattern,’ said Martin Totty, chief executive officer of Barbon Insurance Group, parent company of HomeLet.

‘What this tells us is that the private rental market is experiencing demand nationwide and that it is not simply a London phenomenon that increasing numbers of people are requiring privately rented property,’ he explained.

‘While there have been periods in recent years where London’s rent price growth has moved more in line with other parts of the UK, most notably during the period following the financial crisis, the capital has always remained significantly ahead,’ he pointed out.

‘The convergence suggests that after a lengthy period of substantial outperformance in terms of rental increases, the pace of growth in London has slowed while the rest of the UK is catching up,’ he added.