Rents in Britain’s private rented sector rose by 0.9% in the 12 months to July 2018, down from 1% in the 12 months to June 2018, the latest official index report shows.
Wales led the annual growth with a rise of 1%, followed by England up 0.9% and Scotland up 0.5%, according to the data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
However, rents in London fell, down by 0.3% in the 12 months to July 2018, down from a fall of 0.2% in June and the analysis shows that this is the lowest annual rate since September 2010.
The report explains that Wales has recorded a broad increase in its annual growth rate between July 2016 and the end of 2017, but has fallen back during 2018. This slightly stronger growth in Wales may be a response to stronger rental demand.
Rental growth in Scotland was down slightly from 0.6% in June 2018 and overall there has been historic weaker growth since the middle of 2016 and the report suggest that this may be due to stronger supply and weaker demand in Scotland.
In England the largest annual rental price increase was in the East Midlands with a rise of 2.7%, down marginally from 2.8% in June, followed by a rise of 1.9% in the South West, down from 2.1% in June and a 1.8% rise in the East of England, down from 1.9% in June.
All parts of Britain have experienced rises in their private rental prices since 2011 and since January 2011, rental prices in England have increased more than those in Wales and Scotland.
Growth in private rental prices paid by tenants has slowed since the end of 2015 and the report says that this slowdown in the growth in private rental prices in Britain is driven mainly by a slowdown in London over the same period.
Between January 2011 and July 2018 rents have increased nationally by 16% and this was strongly driven by growth in private rental prices within London. When London is excluded from these figures, private rental prices increased by 12.6% over the same period.
