Rental growth on newly let homes has been edging up for the last six months, according to the Hamptons lettings agency.
Across Great Britain, the average rent on a newly let home reached £1,392 per month in June, 1.6% higher than a year earlier. This is the strongest annual growth recorded for new lets in 13 months.
The recovery has been led by Northern markets, where rents are rising fastest. The North East recorded the strongest growth, with newly agreed rents up 4.3% year-on-year to £859 per month.
By contrast, rental growth in Inner London continued to slow, falling from 1.6% in May to 0.4% in June.
However, Outer London returned to positive annual growth for the first time in 12 months, with rents up 1.9% year-on-year.
Across the whole rental market, including both new lets and ongoing tenancies, rents rose by 2.2% year-on-year.
This broader measure has also slowed, reflecting the earlier easing in rental growth on new lets.
For existing tenants whose rent increased in June, the average uplift was 5.4%. This is broadly unchanged over the last 12 months, although fewer tenants are seeing their rent rise than before the Renters Rights Act came into force.
Scotland recorded the largest rent increases among existing tenants whose rent rose, with an average uplift of 8.0%.
After Scotland, the largest increases were typically seen in the North of England and the Midlands, where rents have been rising more quickly than in London and the South.
Annual rental growth
| Region | New lets | All tenants | ||
| Average monthly rent | YoY change % | Average monthly rent | YoY change % | |
| Greater London | £2,316 | 1.1% | £2,146 | 0.8% |
| Inner London | £2,705 | 0.4% | £2,629 | -0.3% |
| Outer London | £2,029 | 1.9% | £1,790 | 2.0% |
| South | £1,369 | 1.8% | £1,232 | 2.6% |
| East of England | £1,259 | 0.5% | £1,187 | 3.2% |
| South East | £1,498 | 2.3% | £1,325 | 2.1% |
| South West | £1,284 | 2.3% | £1,137 | 3.0% |
| Midlands | £1,054 | 0.7% | £930 | 3.5% |
| East Midlands | £986 | -2.0% | £884 | 3.0% |
| West Midlands | £1,114 | 2.9% | £970 | 3.9% |
| North | £984 | 2.5% | £861 | 3.5% |
| North East | £859 | 4.3% | £770 | 3.5% |
| North West | £1,058 | 2.8% | £890 | 4.1% |
| Yorkshire & Humber | £941 | 1.2% | £862 | 2.8% |
| Wales | £883 | 2.6% | £807 | 1.7% |
| Scotland | £1,054 | 0.9% | £850 | 3.3% |
| Great Britain | £1,392 | 1.6% | £1,256 | 2.2% |
| Great Britain (Ex London) | £1,156 | 1.8% | £1,029 | 3.0% |
This article is taken from Landlord Today