Another new piece of research has underlined the fact that the rental market in England and Wales has seen a strong start to 2017.
The latest Your Move England and Wales Buy to Let Index shows that rents rose in all but one of the right regions analysed in the year to January.
Eastern Rises
Rents rose fastest over the year in the East of England, where average rents now stand at an average of £870pcm-a rise of 6.9%. Rental price growth in the region was also the quickest month-on-month, with rents up by 0.7% in January.
Other regions experiencing strong growth were Wales and the East Midlands, with rents rising here by 6.5% and 4.5% respectively.
In Wales, the average rent stands at £586pcm, while in the East Midlands, this figure is £634pcm.
On the other hand, London saw rents fall most quickly in January, down by 0.4% month-on-month. The North West was the only other area to see prices fall, albeit by an average of just 0.1%.
Fastest rental rises in January seen in the East
Rents
Taking England and Wales as a whole, average rents stood at £798 in January 2017, up from £790 in the same month last year. This represents a fall from the £811 recorded in December 2016.
Valerie Bannister, letting director at Your Move, noted: ‘Rents in nearly every region surveyed have increased compared to the same point last year.’[1]
It comes as little surprise to learn that London was the region with the lowest rental yields. Homes in the capital returned 3.2% on their investment in the last month, down from the 3.3% recorded in December 2016.
By contrast, investors in the North East are enjoying the strongest yields. In this region, the typical property returned 5.3% in January.
In England and Wales as a whole, the typical rental return was 4.6%, below the 5.1% seen in January 2016.
Concluding, Bannister said: ‘Yields continue to be squeezed in most areas of England and Wales, with all regions recording lower returns than at the same point a year ago.’[1]
[1] https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2017/2/rents-are-increasing-fastest-in-the-east-of-england