Rents ease in parts of UK but affordability pressures persist

The North East remains the most affordable region in the UK for tenants with average monthly rents at £865 in August, according to the latest rental price and wage tracker from Propertymark.

At the other end of the scale, London rents averaged £2,389 a month, requiring an annual salary of £71,670 to secure a tenancy.

While some regions saw modest falls in the income required to rent, others experienced sharp increases.

BIG RISES

Yorkshire and Humberside recorded the steepest rise, with the typical salary needed to rent climbing 8.1% year-on-year to £30,270. In contrast, London saw the largest fall, down 1.9% from £73,050 in 2024.

Outside the capital, the South East remains the most expensive area to rent, with monthly rents at £1,497, requiring an income of £44,910.

Scotland and the North West also saw notable increases in affordability pressures, with the annual salary needed to rent rising by 2.5% and 3.4% respectively.

Month-on-month comparisons show a mixed picture. Rents rose by nearly 5% in the North West and 5.8% in Yorkshire and Humberside, while Northern Ireland recorded a 4.4% decline.

SOFTENING RENTS

Megan Eighteen, president of ARLA Propertymark, said: “Year-on-year, rental rises have eased across many areas of the country.

“Much of the private rented market has reached its peak when it comes to affordability, and coupled with slowly decreasing interest rates, this is starting to make rents soften slightly.

“However, this will not be enough to bring down rents to more affordable levels across the board in the longer term.”

MIXED PICTURE

And she added: “The private rental landscape is varied across the UK, with trends fluctuating drastically in some instances.

“However, one fact remains – there is a complete undersupply of available homes of all types and tenures, and other costs to landlords, such as the scrapping of mortgage interest relief and the introduction of endless red tape and licensing schemes have huge implications across the board and are contributing to the previous spikes seen in raised rent levels.

“Private rented homes have always played a crucial role in housing the nation, and a stream of professional, law-abiding landlords should be encouraged to help keep pace with growing demand rather than penalised by a continuous bombardment of financial and regulatory hurdles.”