Rental Growth at Five-Year Low Revealed by Landbay Rental Index

Revealed by the latest Landbay Rental Index, rent in England has experienced a decrease in growth over the last five years.

Excluding London, prices have increased by 1.18% over a period of twelve months. This is the slowest annual growth since April 2013. However, despite the recent halt, rents have increased by 10.23% over the past five years according to data provided from Landbay.

This rental growth has been most prominent in the East of England, where landlords have witnessed rental prices increase by 14.67% over the corresponding period.

However, despite overall growth, rental prices have actually continued to decrease in London, with figures in May making it the seventeenth consecutive month in which prices have remained in negative territory in the city. However, over a five-year period, rents in the capital have improved by 6.88%, and, with 17 out of the 33 London Boroughs now in positive territory, indicating that rents in the city will make a recovery to positive growth in the coming months.

John Goodall, CEO and co-founder of Landbay commented: “Landlords have been faced with a number of challenges over the past two years, from stricter regulation, reductions to tax relief, and a significant stamp duty tax hike when buying a buy-to-let property.

“Some might have expected this pressure to push up rents, though low interest rates and the Bank of England’s Term Funding Scheme (TFS) have kept the cost of borrowing down and allowed landlords to shoulder some of the costs.

“With a rate rise being just around the corner, and the TFS now having ended, things could be about to change. While we are unlikely to see an immediate impact, the pace of rental growth may well speed up in the latter half of this year as landlords look to price in the changes that have been building up for some time.”