One of the most prominent voices in the agency sector says landlords have to show increased flexibility on rents as the Renters Rights Bill becomes law.
Jeremy Leaf – who runs his own lettings and sales agency in London and is a former residential chairman of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors – says: “In our offices we have noticed affordability is clearly increasingly stretched for many tenants, particularly those seeking smaller one- and two-bedroom properties.
“As the Renters’ Rights Bill comes closer to reaching the statute book, landlords remaining in the sector are increasingly having to show more flexibility if they are to avoid the dreaded outcome of a property remaining empty for more than a few weeks.”
Leaf’s comments follow news that average monthly private rents increased by 7.4% to £1,335 in the 12 months to April 2025, according to the Office for National Statistics.
This means the annual growth rate has eased from the 7.7% rise recorded in the 12 months to March.
Across the UK, the latest rent increases varied by nation.
England saw the highest average at £1,390, up 7.5% year-on-year. Wales experienced the sharpest rise in percentage terms, up 8.7% to £795.
In Scotland, average rents rose 5.1% to £999 and the most recent data for Northern Ireland – covering the year to February – shows average rents up 7.8% to £843.
In England, the North East recorded the fastest annual rental inflation at 9.4%, while Yorkshire and The Humber had the slowest increase at 4.0%.
Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank comments: “Rental value growth is still stubbornly high due to robust demand and supply that is falling as more landlords leave the sector. The Renters’ Rights Bill was designed to benefit tenants but the risk is that it has the opposite effect by cutting supply and keeping rents at levels that remain historically high.”
Propertymark chief executive Nathan Emerson comments: “Overwhelming demand within the rental sector continues to influence price increases for those who rent. We continue to witness, on average, around 10 applicants for every property available to rent and this is a situation that has broadly remained stagnated across the last five years.
“It is imperative that rental supply rises to meet the challenges of demand, especially as the UK population is estimated to further grow to within the region of 70m people across the next five years.
“It is important to have a clear-cut plan to meet future rental demand, especially when you consider the continued growth in the number of people renting across the last decade alone.”
This article is taken from Landlord Today