New research has revealed the towns and cities where rents increased the most during the last year.
The HomeLet Rental Index shows that Brighton, Bristol, Edinburgh and Newcastle saw the largest rent rises in 2015.
Southern surge
HomeLet’s annual review of the rental market indicates that rents on new tenancies in Brighton and Bristol were 18% higher than on agreements agreed in 2014. Rents were up by 16% in Edinburgh and Newcastle, while London and Liverpool recorded increases of 11%.
In addition, the monthly HomeLet Rental Index shows on average, with the exception of Greater London, rents in Britain were 4.9% up in the final quarter of 2015 in comparison to the same period one year previously.
Average monthly rents outside of the capital now stand at £739 per month. In London, rents were found to be 8% greater than in the final three months of 2014, standing at £1,523.
HomeLet has provided a league table of the regions of Britain that highlights growth in average rents for fresh tenancy agreements during 2015. The results can be seen below:
| Region | Average rent 3 months to December 2015 | Average rent 3 months to November 2015 | Monthly
Variation |
Average rent 3 months to December 2014 | Annual variation |
| Scotland | £630 | £648 | -2.8% | £611 | 3.2% |
| North East | £531 | £530 | 0.1% | £521 | 1.9% |
| Yorks & Humbs | £623 | £626 | -0.5% | £604 | 3.1% |
| East Midlands | £638 | £635 | 0.4% | £600 | 6.4% |
| East Anglia | £799 | £805 | -0.7% | £756 | 5.7% |
| Greater London* | £1,523 | £1,544 | -1.4% | £1,410 | 8.0% |
| South East | £936 | £943 | -0.8% | £875 | 7.0% |
| South West | £840 | £849 | -1.1% | £796 | 5.5% |
| Wales | £599 | £595 | 0.8% | £586 | 2.3% |
| West Midlands | £666 | £659 | 1.0% | £654 | 1.7% |
| North West | £622 | £631 | -1.5% | £655 | -5.1% |
| Northern Ireland | £570 | £580 | -1.8% | £574 | -0.6% |
| UK ex Greater London | £739 | £743 | -0.6% | £704 | 4.9% |
2015 rental growth hotspots revealed
Strong demand
‘2015 was a year in which rents on new tenancies were up in 2014 in almost every area of the country,’ notes Martin Totty, Barbon Insurance Group’s Chief Executive Officer. ‘While we saw a moderation in the rate at which rents increased during the final months of the year and even some falls in a number of regions, the sector overall has continued to see strong demand.’[1]
‘Beneath the headline figure, HomeLet’s data points to some significant variations in rental market performance in 2014, both from region to region and from town to town. In locations such as Brighton and Bristol, demand for rental property appears to have been particularly strong and rents on new tenancies jumped very markedly, In other areas, we saw slower growth,’ Totty continued.[1]
Concluding, Totty noted that, ‘rents in London have continued to rise more quickly than in most areas of the country, but not at quite the pace of 2014; meanwhile, average rents outside the capital rose more quickly last year than in 2014. As a result, we saw a narrowing of the rent inflation gap between London and the regions last year-is this a trend we will see continuing in 2016 from tenants seeking value for money in the private
[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/rental-market-hotspots-released.html