Research carried out by LandlordBuyers.com shows that rental prices in the UK have risen by 10.6% since 2015.
UK house prices are rising and there is a record-breaking number of aspiring homeowners
registering with estate agencies, as the rental market also remains busy as ever.
Private rental prices in the UK rose by 1.2% in the last 12 months.
When divided regionally, private rental prices grew by 1.1% in England, 1.5% in Wales and 1.2% in Scotland over the past year.
London was the only region which saw an annual decrease in private rental prices (of negative 0.1%).
The figures are raising questions over the sustainability of rental prices.
LandlordBuyers.com Managing Director, Jason Harris-Cohen, said:
“Rental prices will always rise where there are more tenants than available properties and in our experience, the UK rental market is continuing to see strong demand at present.”
“Despite a pandemic, moving activity in the UK rental market has remained buoyant – and perhaps you could say rental demand is at such high levels because of the pandemic, with people moving for re-evaluated lifestyles and working practices. The statistics suggest that even as a semblance of normal life resumes, we will keep the same pace in the private rental sector. We expect rents to keep rising, although incrementally, and voids to stay low.”
“Rents are slightly too high at present but this is simply a byproduct of the supply and demand situation in the UK. Research from Propertymark revealed 68% of agents said they saw landlords increase rents in June 2021, compared to 60% in March 2021 Additionally, when looking at the year-on-year statistics, this figure has more than doubled since April 2019. If more lets become available, however, we may start to see rents fall,” said Harris-Cohen.