Date Published 18 January 2024
During 2023 we saw the record annual rent rise across private rents in England. The Office for National Statistics says that England experienced a 6.1 per cent rise in 2023, the sharpest annual increase on record. Wales saw the highest annual rent increase in Britain at 7.1 per cent with Scotland on 6.2 per cent. London rents escalated by 6.8 per cent last year.
For tenants though 2024 begins with a glimmer of hope as rents have fallen for the second successive month. The latest HomeLet rental index shows that the rents in December 2023 have gone down 0.9 per cent.
All regions throughout the UK saw a decrease in rent except from East Midlands which saw a 0.3 per cent increase. A lot of these rents decreased for a 2nd consecutive month where London dropped by 2.2 per cent. Being close to London, Berkshire would have seen a similar dip as well in rents. We are noticing that the demand for rental properties has slowed down meaning that the high rentals from last year are having to come down slightly to attract more enquiries.
Andy Halstead, chief executive of HomeLet & Let Alliance says: 'Even in the capital, where tenants now pay an average of £2,127 pcm, rents have dropped by almost £50 per month since our November data was released. Unless we see some dramatic changes, 2024 looks set to bring more of the same. Landlords will have to do battle with a familiar array of struggles, including a lack of stock, rising costs and prohibitively expensive buy-to-let mortgage rates. For those reasons, combined with lingering high inflation and the country's financial crises, it's unlikely we'll ever see rental prices drop to the rates they were at when we were exiting the Covid-19 pandemic. The impact of that, alongside questionable budget decisions and overall weak management of British finances, means that we estimate by this time in 2025, rent increases of between 5 and 10 per cent won't be surprising.'
During 2023 we saw the record annual rent rise across private rents in England. The Office for National Statistics says that England experienced a 6.1 per cent rise in 2023, the sharpest annual increase on record. Wales saw the highest annual rent increase in Britain at 7.1 per cent with Scotland on 6.2 per cent. London rents escalated by 6.8 per cent last year.
For tenants though 2024 begins with a glimmer of hope as rents have fallen for the second successive month. The latest HomeLet rental index shows that the rents in December 2023 have gone down 0.9 per cent.
All regions throughout the UK saw a decrease in rent except from East Midlands which saw a 0.3 per cent increase. A lot of these rents decreased for a 2nd consecutive month where London dropped by 2.2 per cent. Being close to London, Berkshire would have seen a similar dip as well in rents. We are noticing that the demand for rental properties has slowed down meaning that the high rentals from last year are having to come down slightly to attract more enquiries.
Andy Halstead, chief executive of HomeLet & Let Alliance says: 'Even in the capital, where tenants now pay an average of £2,127 pcm, rents have dropped by almost £50 per month since our November data was released. Unless we see some dramatic changes, 2024 looks set to bring more of the same. Landlords will have to do battle with a familiar array of struggles, including a lack of stock, rising costs and prohibitively expensive buy-to-let mortgage rates. For those reasons, combined with lingering high inflation and the country's financial crises, it's unlikely we'll ever see rental prices drop to the rates they were at when we were exiting the Covid-19 pandemic. The impact of that, alongside questionable budget decisions and overall weak management of British finances, means that we estimate by this time in 2025, rent increases of between 5 and 10 per cent won't be surprising.'
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