UK rents reach record high for buy-to-let investors

Driven by an ongoing imbalance of supply and demand, rents in the UK letting market have reached a new record high.
Data revealed by Rightmove confirms robust growth in demand for rental property and the cost of rents.
According to Rightmove’s Quarterly Rental Trends Tracker, asking rents across the UK outside of London have reached an all-time high of £1,088 a month, with annual rental growth hitting 11%. This is the first time year-on-year asking rents outside of the capital have exceeded 10%.
Pushing the price of rents up is growing demand for rental homes. Rightmove’s figures show that such demand is currently up by 6%. This is coupled with the fact that the number of rental properties available on the UK rental market is 50% lower than the same time last year.
Explaining the surging cost of rents, Tim Bannister, director of property data at Rightmove said: “In the first three months of this year, we’ve seen tenant demand exceed the high levels set last year, which when coupled with the fewer available homes for rent, has resulted in the most competitive rental market we’ve ever recorded.
“There are several factors affecting supply and demand. On the supply side, we’re hearing from agents and landlords that tenants are signing longer leases, which has prevented some of the stock that would normally come back onto the market from doing so,” Bannister added.
A number of rental hot spots in the UK continue to see the highest hikes in rental costs. These include northern cities, including Liverpool and Manchester, which continue to attract both property investors and tenants. Demand has also been high in areas in the North West surrounding Manchester and Liverpool, where asking rents have increased 19.3% and 17.1% respectively compared to the same time in 2021.
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