However on a month on month basis there was the traditional autumn with nine out of 12 regions recording lower rental prices compared to October 2014, the findings from the Home Let index shows.
It means that the average monthly private rent in the UK is £874 per month or £702 excluding London and Scotland saw strong rental price growth with an 8.7% increase in November 2014 compared to the previous month and 11.7% up on the same month last year.
Overall the regions that have experienced the highest growth compared to this time last year include Scotland, Greater London, and the West Midlands, with rental prices 11.7%, 11% and 8.7% higher than this time last year, respectively.
Regarding the autumn dip, with the exception of Scotland, the East Midlands and the South West all saw lower rental prices in November than in October. Scotland recorded a monthly increase in rental prices of 8.7% with the East Midlands and the South West recording monthly increases of 1.5% and 1.4% respectively.
The index report says that the recent dip in prices reflects typical seasonal movement in the rental market and sits within the context of a market that remains strong. Annually, only three regions of the UK recorded lower rental prices in November 2014 compared to the same month last year. The North West dropped 3.6%, the North East fell by 2.5% and Wales was down 2%.
‘We see the autumn’s moderation in rental growth as broadly in line with the typical seasonal effect that often sees rental prices balance or even slip into reverse in many areas of the country at this time of year,’ said Martin Totty, chief executive officer of the Barbon Insurance Group of which Home Let is part.
‘The outlook for the private rented sector remains positive for several reasons, the pace of house building is unlikely to have a significant effect on the supply of property to buy or to rent in the short term, high house prices, and a mortgage market where lending criteria remains constrained, are combining to ensure that the demand from tenants needing rented accommodation remains strong,’ he explained.
‘In terms of seasonal highs we see Scotland bucking the trend of the rest of the country, the rapid growth in the Scottish rentals market reflects the strength of the economy north of the border, particularly in oil-rich Aberdeen, which has a thriving rentals sector, but also in other Scottish cities and throughout the country,’ he added.