Rents increase at fastest rate since 2008

Rents in England have seen their strongest growth in 13 years. According to figures by Zoopla, in September this year, private sector rents in Britain averaged 4.6% higher than in 2020, marking the fastest rise in 13 years.

Outside of London, rents were 6% higher, the highest they have been in 14 years. According to Zoopla, burgeoning rental costs can be partly pinned on rising demand for living in the city in the wake of a limited supply of homes available to rent.

The figures show that the Southwest of England has witnessed the biggest surge in rent prices, rising at 9% year-on-year. The Southwest was followed by Wales, which has seen a 7.7% rise, followed by the East Midlands, where the cost of rent increased by 6.9% in the same period.

Other major cities have witnessed similar patterns. Nottingham and Bristol, for example, saw the average rent price increase by more than 8% in the year to September.

Zoopla’s head of research, Grainne Gilmore, attributed the increase to the increasing demand for home in areas with higher price bands, such as London.

“Households looking for the flexibility of rental accommodation, especially students and city workers, are back in the market after consecutive lockdowns affected demand levels in major cities.

 

“Meanwhile, just as in the sales market, there is still a cohort of renters looking for properties offering more space, or a more rural or coastal location,” said Gilmore.

 

The spiralling cost of renting homes across the UK is forecast to continue, with experts predicting that tenants’ bills will rise by a further 4.5% by the end of the year.

With a long-term undersupply of rental properties across the country, rental growth is expected to continue into 2022.

With rental costs sustaining an upward swing in what looks set to continue into 2022, now could be a good time to join the rental market or to grow a property portfolio.

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