Every month we do summary of the various rental indices to help you understand what’s really happening to rents both nationally and at a regional level.
Kate's full June 2015 rental report summary
Report Headlines
Belvoir Lettings “The average rent for offices across the UK which have traded consistently over the last seven years is £704 per month – an increase of 2.3% year on year. (Apr 15 – England, Wales & Scotland)”
Acadata/LSL “Rents rise at fastest rate since 2010 to hit all-time record high. (Apr 15 – England & Wales)”
Homelet “In the three months to April, average rental values for new tenancies in the UK were 10% higher than the same period last year. (Apr 15 – England, Wales & Scotland)”
SpareRoom “The average UK room rent remains steady month on month at £589. (Apr 15 – England, Wales & Scotland)”
What's happening to average rents nationally?
Kate's comments:
“Rents are starting to see some real upward movement in 2015 after pretty much 5-6 years of low growth. This is being driven partly by demand being higher than supply, but mostly because wages are now rising above inflation and this is helping tenants to pay more. From a landlord perspective, this is really good news as rents haven’t been rising that fast and this will help fund maintenance. The Homelet index continues to show that newly advertised rental inflation is higher than rental growth to existing tenants.”
Kate's full June 2015 rental report summary
What's happening at regional level?
Acadata/LSL “From March to April, London’s rents increased by 2.3%. The South West came in second, with rents up just 1.1% over the last month, closely followed by the West Midlands with a 1.0% increase between March and April. By contrast, rents in Wales fell 1.8% on a monthly basis. Similarly, rents in both the North West and North East of England fell by 1.4% between March and April. (Apr 15)”
Homelet “All regions, apart from Wales, saw an increase in average rental values in the 3 months to April, compared to last year. Wales has seen a reduction of 1%. Greater London, South East, South West and West Midlands have seen continuing increase in rental values over the last 12 months. (Apr 15)”
Kate's full June 2015 rental report summary
Room Rents
SpareRoom “Some areas of the UK, like Bradford and Chelmsford, have seen rents stay constant year on year too. Areas that have seen steady annual rent growth of 3% include Epsom, Bristol, Salisbury and Brentwood. Other areas, including St. Albans, Aldershot, Basingstoke and Bromley have seen a 5% annual increase. The data also shows some areas are seeing rent levels falling – Sheffield, Cheltenham and Telford have seen room rents fall 3% year on year. (Apr 15)”
Kate's comments on Regional Rent Variations:
“Supply and demand definitely influences rents and at a regional level, where there is plenty of rental stock, such as in Wales, the North West and parts of East of England, rents aren’t rising, while London and the South West are seeing rises. They are not though the ‘raw deal’ suggested by the National Housing Federation. Their recent comparison compares an individual landlord who has to pay high prices with corporate landlords who build from scratch, so it is very much apples versus pears. In comparison, rents in the social sector - which are controlled - have risen twice as fast as private rents in the UK, and rents are around a third of wages, just like they are in the UK according to most affordability reports.”
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