UK property: Average rental prices reach new record high

The average rent for properties inside London and around the rest of the UK has reached a record new high, property website Rightmove has revealed.

Tenants wanting to live outside England’s capital city are being asked to pay an average of £1,231 per month.

Meanwhile, properties inside London have been found to be reaching a record price of £2,567.

Asking prices have fallen marginally this month as Base Rate rises impact the number of sales agreed. However, buyer demand is still higher than 2019’s more normal market level.

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— Rightmove (@rightmove) July 17, 2023

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The figures which cover the whole of the UK for the second quarter of this year, also show the average asking rent for a typical home outside London is 33% higher than during the same period in 2019, increasing by £308 from £923 per month.

Similarly, London rents are 28% (£559 per month) higher than they were at the same time in 2019.

However, Rightmove said that the average property available to rent is finding a tenant in 17 days, the quickest time period it has recorded since November 2022.

Have you noticed a significant increase in rental prices in your area? (Image: Getty)

Rightmove’s director of property science Tim Bannister said: “Average asking rents for new tenants have risen at a rapid pace since the pandemic, reflecting the significant increase in demand, which is driven by a combination of factors including changed housing needs, such as some space to work from home.”

In signs that some landlords are selling up, 16% of properties currently for sale were previously available on the rental market, a figure which is up from 13% in January 2019, Rightmove said.

Allison Thompson, national lettings managing director of Leaders Romans Group, said: “Some highly leveraged landlords are considering selling due to interest rate rises but we find most are mortgage-free, and in most cases our advice is to avoid a knee-jerk reaction.”

Lynne Lancaster, head of estate agency at Penrith Farmers and Kidd’s, added: “Demand continues to well outstrip supply and we are actually seeing more tenants stay put for longer rather than move after the agreed term.”