In the most recent figures released by the ONS rental index, it has been revealed that private rental prices across the UK surged by 5.3% in the year leading up to July 2023. This represents a modest uptick from the 5.2% increase reported for the year ending in June 2023.
Dissecting these numbers by region, England’s rental prices rose by 5.2% over the year. In comparison, Wales and Scotland saw higher annual growth rates, registering increases of 6.5% and 5.7% respectively.
Within England, there were variations across regions. The West Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber, and notably, London, all experienced an identical annual percentage growth rate of 5.5%. On the other hand, the North East trailed with a 4.6% annual increase, marking it as the region with the slowest growth in rental prices.
A significant take away from the data was the performance of London’s rental market. The capital’s 5.5% growth in private rental prices for the 12 months ending in July 2023 not only surpassed the national average for England but also set a new record. This rate of growth stands as the highest annual increase since the inception of the London-specific data series in January 2006.
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Nathan Emerson, Propertymark CEO, said:
“There is a huge disparity in the number of properties available to rent compared to the continuously growing number of renters looking for a home, ultimately continuing to put pressure on rent prices.
“UK Governments need to urgently address the problem and look to adequately incentivise the provision of desperately needed homes rather than forcing landlords out of the private rented sector with unfair regulatory and financial hurdles.”
