UK rental price growth slows but still over 10% higher than a year ago

Taylor Scott International News

Rent price rises slowed in every region of the UK over the three months to August 2015 compared to the previous three months, the latest lettings index shows. But they are still rising at double figures rates on an annual basis and are now 10.5% higher than a year ago, according to the finding from the HomeLet rental index. The data shows that across the country the average tenancy signed during the three month period was £992 per month but in Greater London it was £1,558 per month. The index report also points out that the trend is particularly marked in areas where rents have been rising exceptionally quickly this year, notably the South East of England and East Anglia. Nevertheless, on an annual basis, rent prices remain significantly higher than a year ago, with the average UK rent 10.5% higher than in the three months to August 2014. Overall, the average UK rent on new tenancies has increased 1.6% in the three months to August 2015, compared to an increase of 2.2% for the three months to July and June 2015. In the three months to August 2015, with the exception of Wales, where rents rose by 2.5%, no region saw rents increase by more than 2%. Three regions, the South East, North West and North East of England, saw rents fall during this period. The biggest fall was in the North East, where rents paid for new tenancies in the three months to August 2015 were, on average, 2.1% lower than in the three months to July. 'Rents continue to run slightly ahead of house prices, with the majority of the UK still experiencing rising rents, albeit at a much slower pace than we saw in the early part of 2015,' said Martin Totty, chief executive officer of the Barbon Insurance Group, HomeLet’s parent company. 'On an annualised basis, however, rents in most regions are still significantly higher than the same period a year ago, with only the North West reporting lower rents for new tenancies in the three months to August 2015 than for the same period last year,' he added. He explained that there is a robust rental market which is consistent right across the UK with only one or two exceptions, such as East Anglia, where prices rose sharply in 2014 and early 2015 but have now slowed notably, and the South West, which continues to see annual price rises in double figures. Continue reading →

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