Rent continues to rise in almost every part of the UK

Average monthly rent in Greater London was £1543 in April, while average monthly rent outside London hit £764

Hazel Sheffield
Friday 06 May 2016 07:54 BST
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The 3 per cent stamp duty rise was expected to bring down the cost of rent
The 3 per cent stamp duty rise was expected to bring down the cost of rent

Rent has continued to rise in almost every part of the UK, according to a rental monitor by referencing firm Homelet that comes weeks after the Government increased stamp duty charges by 3 per cent.

The average cost of London rent rose 7.7 per cent in the year to April, marking the third consecutive month of this level of growth. Renters outside London faced costs up 5.1. per cent in the three months to April on the same period in the previous year, up from 4.9 per cent in the three months to March.

Average monthly rent in Greater London was £1543 in April, while average monthly rent outside London hit £764.

Homelet numbers, which are based on the prices agreed by landlords and tenants that use the site, showed that Scotland has the fastest rising rent in the UK.

In Scotland, April rent was up an average of 11.4 per cent year-on-year to £704 a month.

The Midlands were close behind with costs rising 7.9 per cent more than in April 2015, putting the average rent at £646 a month.

The North West of England was the only region of the UK to see rent fall on new tenancies, but the speed at which rent is falling there has slowed to 1 per cent.

The 3 per cent stamp duty rise was expected to bring down the cost of rent down due to a sudden increase in new property to rent on the market, after landlords rushed to secure their buy-to-let properties before stamp duty increased.

Martin Totty, CEO of Barbon Insurance Group, which owns Homelet, said that the stamp duty increase had had little impact and that for now it was "business as usual".

"Landlords will no doubt be feeling the squeeze too given the various taxation changes they now need to budget for. We will have to see whether landlords try to pass their higher costs on, whether buy-to-let property investment diminishes in popularity and whether tenants are able to afford further increases in rents," he said.

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