Rents and voids rise as advertised prices fall short

Rents and voids rise as advertised prices fall short

0:03 AM, 4th February 2025, About An hour ago

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Rents climbed 4.6% in January compared to last year, reaching an average of £1,207 per property, according to the Goodlord Rental Index.

This jump from £1,154 in January 2024 signifies an acceleration in annual rent rises.

The North East experienced the most substantial annual growth at more than 8%, while the East Midlands saw the smallest at 1%.

January also saw a near 2% rise in monthly rents, from £1,185 in December to £1,207.

London maintains the highest rents at £2,044, a 3% increase from December, while the North East offers the lowest at £911, a 5% monthly rise.

The South East was the only region with a slight rent drop of -0.6%.

‘Another month of rising rents’

Goodlord’s chief executive, William Reeve, said: “There’s a lot to analyse in this month’s rental index.

“On the face of it, you have another month of rising rents and a rebound in pace of year-on-year increases.

“But when you dig a little deeper you can see that the void periods are at their highest since 2021 and confirmed rents are meaningfully undercutting advertised prices.”

He added: “It’s a picture of a market that continues to be buffeted by supply and demand issues, but that could be teetering its way towards stabilising.

“We are definitely seeing a softening in the market.”

Mr Reeve says that landlords will see rents rise in 2025 – but not at the rate they did last year.

Rents lower than advertised figures

Despite the rent rises, Goodlord says that prices are much lower than advertised figures.

For the last quarter of 2024, confirmed rents were 20% lower than advertised outside London and 24% lower in London.

The firm says this suggests tenants are successfully negotiating lower rates.

Void periods reached a high not seen since April 2021, increasing from 21 days in December to 24 in January.

The West Midlands saw the largest void increase, up 28%.

Notably, the South East, the only region with reduced rents, maintained steady void periods.


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