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.
Download the full rental summary here
Rental Indices Headlines
What's happening to average rents nationally?
Below we track rents over the last year from the three main indices. Homelet includes quite a lot of rents from London, so it’s typically higher than LSL and Belvoir and may tend to show more of an upward trend. LSL doesn’t cover Scotland which both Belvoir and Homelet do.
Kate Faulkner's comments on the latest rental indices trends
“The rental reports suggest two stories at the moment. Ones which cover latest advertised rents and moving averages, such as Belvoir and LSL, are showing rents are static to rising up to 2% year on year. Those that are tracking a monthly advertised rental trend only, are suggesting rents are rising more strongly in the second quarter this year.”
Download the full rental summary here
What's happening with rents at a regional level?
As with property prices, rents vary from one region to another and so do the trends. Here’s a summary of what’s happening in each region, according to the main indices:-
Move with Us“On average, renting a property in the capital is now £223 (10%) more expensive than July 2013 when rents bottomed out at £2,148. A monthly increase of £9 in the South East means it too is becoming more expensive to rent, with average prices £90 (8%) greater than the same time last year. Asking rents in East Anglia continue to increase, this month by £13. As house prices in Scotland have stalled, the rental market has flourished with the average rents now approximately £60 more than in July 2013 at £737. Other northern regions have only experienced minimal growth or in the instance of the North West, slight decline over the last year. (July 14)”
Acadata/LSL “Rents in nine out of ten regions are higher than a year ago. The fastest annual increase is in the South East, where the average monthly rent is now 3.8% higher than in July 2013. This is followed by a 3.0% annual increase in the North West, and annual rent rises of 2.3% in London. The North East is the only region where rents have dropped over the last twelve months, falling 3.8%. The South West experienced a 1.0% monthly drop in average rents in July, while in the West Midlands rents were 0.5% lower than in June. (July 14)”
Homelet “Average rents dropped by 1.4% in the North East when compared to last year, this was the only region to see a decline in average rental values. Average rental values in the Capital rose by 1.2% from June to July, to reach a record £1,429pcm and rents in London were 9.4% higher in July 2014 when compared to last year, when average rents were £1,295pcm. When London is excluded the average UK rental value was £723pcm, this is 3.3% higher than last year (£699pcm). (July 14)”
BM Solutions/Lloyds“London is the least profitable region for buy-to-let investors. (Q2 14)”
Download the full rental summary here
Kate Faulkner's comments on regional rent variations
“Another mixed picture this month with rents across the regions. All eyes are on Scotland to see whether the loss of tenant fees is causing a rise in rents higher than other regions and although there is some indication of this, it’s going to take a year or more before anyone could come to this conclusion. Overall, it does appear rents in most areas are on the rise year on year, but as usual in the rental market, they tend to start to fall back towards the winter period.”
Download the full rental summary here
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