The national average asking rental prices outside of London have hit another all-time record of £1,126 per calendar month, according to Rightmove’s quarterly rental prices tracker, and have risen by 3.5% in the last quarter alone and are now 11.8% higher than the previous year.
The average asking rents across the UK and excluding London have increased by a staggering 11.8% on the previous year, according to Rightmove’s Q2 Rental Prices Tracker, meaning that rental prices have increased by 19% (+£177) in the last two years since the pandemic began – the same amount of growth that previously took 8 years to achieve prior to the pandemic. The increase in rents of 3.5% between Q1 and Q2 of this year is the second highest rise in rental prices in the last decade, causing Rightmove to officially announce a revision of their previous annual rental growth prediction for the UK in 2022, increasing their initial estimation from 5% to 8% this year.
The average number of new rental properties coming to the market is slowly beginning to increase but is ultimately down on the level of properties available in 2021 - meaning rental demand across the country has increased by 6% on last year and available properties to rent in the market down by an incredible 26%, making competition between prospective tenants fierce. This sustained high demand in the market and the slow speed of stock recovery is further fuelling the rise in rents throughout the UK, as average monthly rental costs are now 40% higher than they were ten years ago.
“The story of the rental market continues to be one of high tenant demand but not enough available homes to meet that demand. Last year we saw exceptional numbers of tenants looking to move and this year we have seen no let-up in this trend. Whilst stock levels are beginning to improve, with June seeing the highest number of new rental listings coming to market so far this year, the wide gap that has been created between supply and demand over the last two years will take time to narrow. Until then, this imbalance will continue to support asking rent growth. This has led to our revised forecast of an 8% rise in asking rents by the end of the year up from 5%.” Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s Director of Property Science.
Despite the competitive state of the UK property market, Rightmove have also reported that more landlords surveyed (34%) are planning to expand their property portfolios in the coming 12 months than reduce them (11%).
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