PRIVATE RENTS REACH RECORDS HIGHS IN THE UK

Average private rents in Britain have hit record highs, jumping by more than 20% in some areas such as Manchester, new data shows.

The average advertised rent outside London is 11.8% higher than a year ago, while in the capital it is up by 15.8%.

The rise in housing costs is piling more pressure on households already feeling the strain of the cost of living crisis and has been largely blamed on demand for rental properties greatly outstripping supply, leading to intense competition among tenants for what is available. Rising interest rates are also feeding through to tenants, with many landlords on tracker rates.

During the period from 1 April to 30 June, the average advertised asking rent outside London hit another new record of ￡1,126 a calendar month. This figure has jumped by 19% or ￡177 in the two years since the pandemic started.

In London, there was also a new record average advertised rent of ￡2,257, and a 15.8% annual rate of growth was “the highest ever annual rate of any region”.

However, some locations have seen even bigger hikes. Rental price hotspots were topped by Manchester, where the average asking rent is up 23.4% in a year from ￡913 in the second quarter of 2021 to ￡1,127 in the same period this year.

In second place was Chatham in Kent, where the equivalent increase was 21.4%, while in third place was Liverpool, which saw a 19.4% rise.

The average monthly rental payments were now 40% higher than they were 10 years ago, while typical mortgage payments for the same properties were up 13%.

An estimated 11 million people rent privately in England alone, and the sector has doubled in size during the past 20 years.