Rental prices rising slowly across the region
Rental prices across the UK have shown a modest rise in the first quarter of 2018 but prices across Yorkshire and Humberside are rising at a slower rate.
Across the region, the average rent in March 2018 was £623, up 0.6% on the same time last year. Overall in the UK, rents have risen by 0.9% in the last twelve months, equating to an average monthly increase of £3 per property.
Chief executive of HomeLet, Martin Totty, said: “Rental price inflation was much more stable over the whole of 2017 compared to 2016, when rents rose at an annual rate of more than 4% in the first half of the year, before dropping back in the second half. So far, we are seeing this more stable market continue to prevail in 2018.”
The trends reported within the HomeLet Rental Index represent new tenancies which were arranged in the most recent period, providing a forward-looking insight into the lettings market.
The headlines from this month’s report are:
- The average rent in the UK is now £912, up by 0.9% on the same time last year
- When London is excluded, the average rent in the UK is now £759, this is up by 0.1% on last year
- Average rents in London were £1,569, up by 1.5% on last year
- Rents in Scotland are showing the highest year-on-year increase at 5.6%
The region with the largest month-on-month decrease was the North East, showing a 2.1% difference between February and March 2018.
Totty added: “During the first quarter of 2018, house prices across the UK rose by 2.7%, whilst the rental market increases have been nowhere near as significant, rising just 0.3% (from £909 to £912), showing much more stability, which has characterised the rental sector over a long period. As well as this, overall rents have risen much slower over the last year than consumer price inflation, which was 2.5% in February.”
