Typical rents for single rooms in Britain are increasing at a faster rate than those in London, according to a new report by spareroom.co.uk.
The rental platform says that UK rents outside of the English capital were 5% greater in the first quarter of this year, in comparison to the same period in 2015.
Rents rising
In London, rental growth for single bedrooms was just 1.63%, according to spareroom.co.uk’s 2016 Rental Index.
The largest rental increases in the first quarter of 2016 were recorded in Luton, Swindon, Reading and Bristol.
At the other end of the scale, the cheapest average rents for single rooms were in Belfast, Bradford, Dundee and Sunderland.
Increase in supply
Spareroom.co.uk indicates that when comparing the results from Q1 of 2016 against the same period last year, supply of rental rooms has increased by 25%.
This is down to a number of additional properties coming onto the market, as investors surged to beat the stamp duty surcharge deadline.
Further analysis of the Index shows that Belfast and Harlow have the largest competition for rooms, with an average of nine people searching per listing in each of these regions.
Matt Hutchinson, director of SpareRoom, noted, ‘the first quarter of 2016 saw some respite for renters, thanks to an upturn in supply as buy-to-let investors rushed to complete ahead of the stamp duty increase.’[1]
UK rents rising quicker than in London
Weight of demand
Hutchinson went on to say however that the rental market is still struggling under the weight of demand, particularly in London.
‘Even cities like Manchester and Birmingham, which offers some of the highest levels of supply for renters in the UK, are massively oversubscribed with six tenants competing for every room, he noted.[1]
[1] https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/6/rents-across-the-country-rising-faster-than-in-london