Newly agreed rent prices are continuing to increase, but at a slower rate, according to the latest data.
Additionally, two thirds of tenants have claimed that saving a deposit to buy a home is unaffordable.
Excluding London, the average new rent in the UK is now £749 per month, a 3.5% rise on last year’s £724 a month.
Although this is running at a higher pace than inflation, it is significantly lower than the 8.5% growth recorded earlier this year.
The average new rent in the capital is now 7.5% higher than last year, standing at £1,560 per month.
This means that rents in London are now over £800 more per month, or 108% higher, than the typical rent agreed in the rest of the UK.
Lettings specialist HomeLet has conducted a survey of 15,000 renters, which found that 64% expect to continue living in rental accommodation for the foreseeable future.
CEO of HomeLet’s parent firm, Barbon Insurance Group, Martin Totty, says: “Our survey showed that many tenants ultimately aspire to own their own home, but that just over half of them aren’t actively saving for a deposit; 66% of those questioned said that a deposit wasn’t affordable for them.
“However, the positive news is that almost nine out of ten tenants told us they were happy with the standard of their current rented property, and the majority told us they were happy with the service provided by their landlord or letting agent.”
He adds: “Whilst we are seeing upward pressure on the rental market, it’s important that the sector continues to drive professional standards forwards for mutual benefit of tenants, landlords and letting agents.”1
For the second consecutive month, HomeLet reports that rent prices are growing fastest in Scotland, where rents over the three months to October have risen by 9% compared with the same period in 2014.
Rent prices on new tenancies increased in nine out of 12 regions, the exceptions being the North West, East Anglia and Northern Ireland.
1 http://homelet.co.uk/news/article/tenants-look-to-prs-for-the-long-term