Brits paid out £85.6bn in rent during 2023

Renters in Great Britain will pay a staggering £85.6bn in rent this year – that’s more than double the amount paid in 2010 and £8bn more than last year.

The report from Hamptons also shows that rents on new tenancies increased by 10.2% year-on-year in November, the highest annual growth rate since it began keeping records in 2014. The average rent for a new tenancy is now £1,054 per month, up from £956 a year ago.

London remains the most expensive rental market with tenants spending £32.1bn on rent this year, a new record.

This is more than the combined total of £29.4bn paid by renters in the North of England, Midlands, Wales and Scotland.

‘Record £85.6bn in rent in 2023’

The head of Research at Hamptons, Aneisha Beveridge, said: “Tenants across Great Britain paid a record £85.6bn in rent in 2023, equivalent to the total value of all homes sold in London last year.

“While over the last 12 months, the rent bill has increased because of record-breaking rental growth, longer-term it’s mostly risen as a result of more households renting.”

She added: “Higher interest rates in the medium term are likely to mean more millennials rent for longer.

“This is why the millennial rent bill has risen over the last few years, at a time when it might have been expected to fall.”

Rising rents are putting pressure on younger generations

The report highlights that rising rents are putting pressure on younger generations who are finding it harder to save for a deposit and buy their own homes.

Gen Z (born between 1995 and 2012) paid £30.5bn in rent this year, almost as much as millennials (born between 1980 and 1994), who paid £36.8bn.

Millennials also spent more on rent than ever before, as higher mortgage rates and stricter lending criteria kept them in the rental market for longer.

Ms Beveridge said: “With the rate at which millennials climb onto the housing ladder slowing, they’re starting their own families and renting larger, more expensive homes which is pushing up the amount of rent they pay.

“This also means that while Gen Z are set to start paying more rent than millennials in the next couple of years, that crossover is likely to come later and at a higher point.”

She adds: “And given that it gets progressively harder to get onto the housing ladder later in life, an era of higher rates will likely mean that more millennials will be renting for the rest of their lives.”

Share This Article