Rents reach new highs as landlords prepare for Budget impact

The UK’s private rented sector continues to face upward pressure, with average advertised rents outside London reaching a new quarterly record of £1,344, Rightmove reveals.

The property platform’s rent index shows this a 5.2% increase from last year, although it is the slowest rate of growth since 2021.

In London, rents have also hit a new high, reaching an average of £2,694 – a 2.5% rise compared to last year.

Just over a fifth of rental properties are seeing rent reductions before a tenant signs up, compared with 16% last year.

‘Landlords choosing to exit the market’

Rightmove’s director of property science, Tim Bannister, said: “We are seeing some landlords choosing to exit the market with potential tax changes and stricter EPC regulations as additional factors in landlords’ decision-making.

With rental supply under strain, incentivising landlords to invest in energy-efficient upgrades or offering tax relief could help maintain rental supply and, ultimately, ease affordability pressures for tenants.”

He adds: “While we’re seeing some signs of improvement in the market’s chronic levels of demand and supply imbalance helped by a slight increase in the number of available rental properties, affordability remains a key challenge for renters as prices continue to hit new records.

“Tenant competition has eased slightly from last year, but the market is still far from balanced.”

Pressure on rental home availability

The available supply of rental properties has increased by 13% year-on-year, but it remains 27% below 2019 levels, highlighting ongoing pressure on rental home availability.

The average number of tenant enquiries per rental property has dropped from 23 last year to 15, but it is still nearly double the eight recorded in 2019.

In anticipation of potential changes to Capital Gains Tax and stricter EPC regulations, a growing number of landlords are choosing to sell their rental properties.

Rightmove’s data shows that 18% of homes currently on the market for sale were previously available to rent, compared to 8% in 2010.

Landlords faced financial and regulatory hurdles

Nathan Emerson, the chief executive of Propertymark, said: “Landlords have faced continuous financial and regulatory hurdles with many having to pass on certain costs by raising rents just to break even on their increasing expenditure.

“Propertymark has continually highlighted to government worrying trends within the marketplace and that over regulation and additional pressures may damage future investment.

“As the Renters’ Rights Bill makes its way through Parliament there is a danger it may not actually benefit all tenants and it’s important that full impact assessments are conducted.”

He added: “The UK government is right in pursuing reform within the sector to ensure higher standards; however, for this to work, there needs to be a balanced approach to protect both landlords and tenants equally.”

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