October rents fall reveals Homelet Index
Rental prices across most regions of the UK fell in October, the latest Homelet rental index has revealed
Outside of London, the average rent is now £708 and while rents are still higher than a year previously, the index suggests a cooling of the market.
The index also revealed that Plymouth, Cardiff and Leeds were deemed the most affordable major cities to rent in the UK with London, Edinburgh and Birmingham the least affordable. The latest figures mean Homelet has recorded lower rental prices in each of the last three months in many regions of the UK.
Regions including Greater London, East Anglia, the South East and the South West of England – all regions that had previously seen high growth – are now recording lower rents. In Greater London, rents agreed in October were 3.8 per cent lower than in September while drops of 3.1 per cent and 5.4 per cent were recorded in the South East and East Anglia respectively.
But it was in the South West where the biggest monthly fall in rents occurred, falling by 9.3 per cent between September and October. In areas where previous growth was not as apparent, including in the North East and the East Midlands, growth of 3.8 per cent and 3.4 per cent was noted.
Outside of England, rents in Scotland fell by 4.4 per cent on a monthly basis but were up 2.6 per cent annually while Wales saw a monthly decrease of one per cent but annual growth of 3.3 per cent.
In London, rents fell by 3.8 per cent compared to a month previously meaning average rent in the capital now stands at £1,411 – up 8.5 per cent from a year ago.
“All around the UK, landlords continue to make sensible decisions about the ability of tenants to pay rents,” explained Martin Totty, chief executive of Barbon Insurance Group which owns Homelet.
“The recent easing in the rental sector mirrors to some extent the autumn cooling of the house purchase market, where house price increases have begun to ease in recent months.”
Homelet has also calculated which cities are the most and least affordable to rent in by tenant income to rent ratio. In London – the most expensive city – monthly rent requires 49 per cent of the average tenant’s income, while Edinburgh and Birmingham require 47 per cent. At the opposite end of the scale, Plymouth, Cardiff and Leeds require 27 per cent, 29 per cent and 34 per cent of income respectively.
For more information, statistics and data on buy to let properties please visit our Research data page; or another article about past national rental rates.
25th November 2014
