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Rents rise by £110 a month over last year in latest blow for UK tenants

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A government housing minister has admitted “huge inequity” exists in the forfeiture process which leaves leasehold property-owners losing their homes over minor unpaid debts.
A government housing minister has admitted “huge inequity” exists in the forfeiture process which leaves leasehold property-owners losing their homes over minor unpaid debts.

The cost of renting a property has risen by £110 a month over the last 12 months, according to the latest damning report about the health of the UK’s housing sector, as shrinking supply in the market continues to pile on misery for tenants. 

Rent supply has shrunk 30 per cent below the average for this time of the year, a new study from Zoopla has shown, following an increasingly large number of landlords selling up to dodge rising mortgage rates. 

Estate agents surveyed reported having only 10 rental listings available compared to 16.5 when surveyed pre-pandemic, which has increased competition and price in the market. 

In London, the yearly average a tenant is now forking out has risen by a staggering £4,000 – rising to £24,636 in July 2023 from £20,148 in the same period last year. 

“The rented sector is stuck in a seemingly endless cycle of low supply and strong demand which has kept rental growth in double digits for 18 months in a row.

“Scotland is the hottest rental market with rents up almost 13 per cent over the last year as landlords adapt to new rent controls over the last year,” Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla, said. 

“Rents continue to rise faster than earnings, worsening rental affordability for renters looking to move. Rents are set to rise nine per cent  over 2023 with the pace of rental growth be shaped more by the affordability of renting, and how renters adapt to higher rents, than major shifts in supply or demand.”

He added:”More renters looking to share accommodation could well support rental growth into 2024 with no end in sight for the shortage of homes for rent”

Roaring rental prices is just one of the many catastrophes the UK’s housing market is currently facing, following the central bank’s 14 straight interest rate hikes which sent borrowing costs into a frenzy. 

While mortgage rates have cooled, the sector has been rocked with many landlords still eager to put their property on the market to elevate themselves from the pressures of homeownership.