Renting in London has reached a record high – with a staggering £2,480 per month the new average.
It’s no secret that accommodation in the capital is on the pricier end, with many now struggling to juggle living costs with rising energy bills.
Some have taken up ‘side-hustles’ of renting out parking spaces for thousands of pounds a year.
According to Rightmove, it’s not only London that has seen rents skyrocket in recent months.
Average rent in the rest of the UK has also hit a record high – of £1,172 per month.
Rightmove’s latest figures cover the final three months of 2022.
Their data comes after Labour MP Dawn Butler recently demanded action on the ‘rent crisis’ for millions in the UK.
In 2021, the average cost of rent outside of London was £1,068, and five years ago in 2018, tenants were paying an average of £909 per month.
The most expensive regions include the South East, which costs around £1,667 to rent, and the East of England, which averages £1,418 per month.
However, renting in the North East costs considerably less at £780 per month, and Yorkshire and the Humberside costs £922.
Rightmove added that average asking rents in inner London surpassed £3,000 per month for the first time, hitting £3,010.
Rightmove’s director of property science, Tim Bannister, said: ‘Landlords will need to balance any rent rises with what tenants can afford to pay in their local area, to continue to find tenants quickly and avoid any periods where their home is empty due to tenants not being able to meet the asking rent.
‘There appears to be some more property choice for renters compared to the record low levels of last year which would slightly ease the fierce competition to secure a home.
‘This is why we’re forecasting that the pace of annual growth will ease to around 5% by the end of the year nationally, although this would still significantly exceed the average of 2% that we saw during the five years before the pandemic.’
There could be signs that competition between tenants for homes available to rent is starting to ease, however.
The number of available homes to rent in December 2022 had increased by 13% compared with a year earlier, but the volume of people inquiring about rental properties rose by 7% over the same period, Rightmove said.
Wales and the South West have seen the biggest jumps in new properties to rent, which used asking rents of properties listed on Rightmove to make the findings.
The company predicts average asking rents across Britain for newly available properties will rise a further 5% in 2023, unless there is a significant addition of available homes to rent.
Simon Leigh, director at Hackney & Leigh estate and letting agents, said: ‘The rental market remains buoyant, and the majority of our landlords are still receiving multiple applications on their properties.
‘Rents have remained stable, due in part to the cautious approach from landlords when considering rent increases at renewal stage, preferring to retain good tenants rather than have even a small void period, or incur the associated costs.’
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