Up, up and away: rental prices hit nine year high
According to new research from an estate agency the cost of renting a home rose by 12% in August – the highest figure since their records began in 2014.
Hamptons, a London-based letting agency, have recently examined the rental prices of 90,000 homes and discovered the average monthly rent of a newly let property is now £1,304. The homes that have been included in the research are let and managed by the wider Countrywide Group of estate and lettings agents each year, adjusting for their location and build type.
The realisation of how much it now costs to rent a property came as such a shock as less than a year ago rents were priced at £1,200.
One of the main reasons for rent prices rising rapidly is that with fewer properties available to rent in many areas across the country, the mismatch between supply and demand has caused prices to soar.
In addition, the constant increases of interest rates from the Bank of England in a bid to combat rising inflation has also caused the costs of homes to increase.
‘Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons. Said: ‘Each passing month has ushered in a new rental market record. Rents have risen more in the last 12 months than they did between 2015 and 2019.
‘While the current pace of rental growth is unsustainable in the long term, many mortgaged landlords are being squeezed just as tightly as tenants.’
However, activity witnessed within the wider housing market among buyers and sellers has been slow. The leading property organisation Rightmove reported that more than a third of properties listed for sale had gone through at least one price reduction to try and attract buyers, which is the highest figure on record since 2011.
Image: Robert Linder