This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
New figures released by the Office of National Statistics suggest that rents in Britain increased by 2.5% in the year to May.
This represented a slight fall from the 2.6% annual increase recorded in the last month.
Rental rises
Statistics reveal that rental price increases were led by England, with values increasing by 2.6% year-on-year. Scotland saw a rise of 0.4%, with Wales recording no increases.
In Great Britain as a whole, the average rental price was £512.50, up from £500 per month in the same period in 2015.
Rents in the UK, with the exception of London, rose by 2% over the same period. Rental prices increased in all English regions year-on-year, with rental prices rising most prominently in the South East. Here, rental values rose by 3.4%, up from 3.1% in the previous month.
London saw rents heighten by 3.3% annually, but the yearly rate of growth was down by 3.7% in April 2016.
Rents rise by 2.5% year-on-year
Lows
The lowest yearly rental prices were seen in the North East at 0.8%, unchanged from April 2016. The North West saw rises of 1.2% and Yorkshire and the Humber 1.2%.
Since January of 2011, rental prices in England have risen more than those in Wales and Scotland. From the beginning of 2012, England’s rents have seen annual increases between 1.4% and 3% year-on-year. This is partly due to the large imbalance between supply and demand registered in the market.
