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 my full rental summary for February 2015
Report Headlines
Belvoir Lettings “The average rent for offices across the UK which have traded consistently over the last five years is £718 per month – an increase of 5% year on year. (Jan 15 – England, Wales & Scotland)”
Countrywide “Rents increase as demand for quality rental accommodation outstrips supply. (Jan 15 – England, Wales & Scotland)”
Acadata/LSL“Rents 2.8% higher than in 2014. (Jan 15 – England & Wales)”
Paragon Group “2014 spells a healthy improvement for buy-to-let. (Q4 14 - England, Wales & Scotland)”
SpareRoom“January’s average room rent was £570, up from £561 in December 2014. (Jan 15 – England, Wales & Scotland)”
What's happening average rents nationally?
Kate's comments on the latest trends
“In the last quarter of 2014 and at the start of 2015, we have seen higher increases in rents than we have seen since 2008 – when rents fell due to oversupply in the market in 2009. It cannot be any coincidence, that over the last few months, for the first time, wages have also grown at a higher level than inflation. Of course, this is mainly due to inflation falling so dramatically and we are expected to even go into deflation this year, boosting the amount of money people feel they have in their back pocket. This can only be good news for the many landlords who have not increased their rents for five or more years and as a result, in real terms, are renting their properties for up to 20% less than they were back in 2008.”
Download my full rental summary for February 2015
What's happening at 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:-
Countrywide “All UK regions see an increase in average rent year-on-year, with Greater London seeing the largest increase, up 4.4% year-on-year to £1,137pcm, Wales up 2.4% to £641pcm and the South East up 2.1% to £984pcm. (Jan 15)”
Acadata/LSL“Rents in almost every region are higher in January 2015 than they were in January 2014. On an annual basis, rents are now up by 8.8% in the East of England, the largest year-on-year increase of any region, followed by London (4.8%) and the East Midlands (3.8%). The only two regions to see rents lower than a year ago are the North East and the South West, with 0.8% and 1.4% annual falls. (Jan 15)”
Room Rents
SpareRoom“East London saw a particularly sharp rent rise in 2014, rising 14% year on year. Areas with more moderate annual rises include Birmingham (2%), Newport (2.5%) and Ilford (3.6%). In other areas, including Hull, Plymouth and Harrow, rents remained relatively constant year on year. (Jan 15)”
Kate Faulkner comments on Regional Rent Variations:
“Regional rents tend to follow a trend of 2-4% increase in the main throughout all the indices. Where we see ‘sharp rises’ such as East of England +8.8%, this is either due to previous falls we have seen or because there is a lot of new builds in the area being let, which typically commands a 10% premium versus existing lets.”
Download my full rental summary for February 2015
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