Further pressure on rental prices across England, Scotland and Wales has increased. The cost of a new tenancy rose by 9.9% – or £116 – to £1,282 a month in the year to July. It was the 27th month in a row that annualised rental prices grew at a rate of more than 5%.
This prolonged period of growth leaves the average rent 28% higher than in February 2020.
Activity has remained more robust, as the number of completions rose in June to 94,690, according to HMRC. This was 86% of their 2017-19 average, up from 77% in May, as a rise in mortgage approvals in the early part of the year translated into completions.
Annual rental growth across the UK remained high at 10.4% in June, up 0.1% compared to May. Rental growth accelerated across all regions except Yorks & Humber and Wales on a month-on-month basis. The North West had the biggest growth in June, up 1.2%, according to Zoopla, bringing its post-pandemic growth since March 2020 to 27.9%. This was above the UK average of 23.8%.
