Latest rise sees renters paying an extra month’s rent per year

2023 was another difficult year as average rents for new lets reached £1,200 in November. This is a 9% increase over the previous year. This means that renters are seeing an additional month’s worth of rent on top of their annual bill.

London leads the slowdown in rental growth for the nation. Rental inflation rates slowed down in southern cities over the last 12 months. This offers some respite to renters in the more expensive South of England. The largest moderation is in London where rental inflation dropped from +15.9% the previous year compared to 8.1% today.

Rental growth has slowed the most within Inner London boroughs. A year ago, rates were +14.9% in Hammersmith and Fulham and up to +21.1% in Tower Hamlets. By comparison, no inner borough today sees a growth greater than +9.5%.

Outer boroughs however are a different story. Some of the highest rent increases in England right now with boroughs including Hillingdon, Redbridge, Barking, and Dagenham having risen by over +15.5%.

The second and third largest slowdowns are recorded in Bristol and Newport where rental inflation has fallen to +7.9% and +8.8% respectively.

These reductions, according to Zoopla, suggest that landlords are more realistic in pricing their rentals and could even be taking cost-of-living struggles into account when setting rates.

Scotland has recorded the highest level of annual rental inflation of any region in the UK with an average of +12.1%. The average monthly rate rose to £780, an increase of £84 a year ago. This is less than the 13.7% in February 2023 but Scotland is expected to continue to see the fastest rental growth of any region in the country in 2024. Scottish cities registered some of the highest increases in the country with average monthly rents in Edinburgh increasing by £150 and in Glasgow by £100. Rural parts were less dramatic however.