Top Agency says that UK Rents are Continuing to Rise

Rental growth is continuing with average rents up 8.3 per cent on the same time last year according to Hamptons, the lettings agency.  

This rate of growth places January 2023 as the sixth strongest month for annual rental increases since the Hamptons lettings index began in January 2014.

Rents rose across the country with the Midlands and North of England recording 11.2 and 11.0 per cent respectively which is higher than previous months.

Meanwhile the increases in London eased slightly to 9.1 per cent as Inner London rents completed their catch up to pre-Covid levels.

For the seventh month running, rents achieved by one-bed homes grew faster than larger homes as the hangover from Covid continues to unwind. Both one and two-bed homes recorded faster annual growth in January 2023 than in any month since the lettings index began.

In November 2021, the average four-bed rent peaked at 126 per cent more than the average one-bed. But this gap has since closed on the back of the average rent for a one-bed rent rising 11.3 per cent over the last 12 months compared to 2.7 per cent for four-beds. 

This leaves the average four-bed home costing 108 per cent more than the average one-bed as of January 2023, still slightly above the long-term average of around 100 per cent.

Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, says: “While house price growth continues to slow, rents show few signs of deviating from their upward trajectory.  

“The number of homes coming onto the market remains well below pre-Covid levels, with landlords facing tough decisions as to whether the arithmetic still works when mortgage rates expire.  However, the downward drift in interest rates will bring some relief for those who need to re-mortgage in 2023.”