The average residential rent across England and Wales is now £761 per month. This is £3 higher than the previous record £758 set in October 2013.
On a monthly basis August rents are on average 1.1% higher than was seen in July – or an increase of £8.
This leaves monthly rents 2.4% higher than a year ago, when in August 2013 average monthly rents previously stood at £743. In absolute terms this annual growth represents an increase of £15.
David Brown, commercial director of LSL Property Services, comments:
“Autumn is when more people move to take up new opportunities, to build new careers and to start new chapters. That is what the rental market is all about for many people by providing flexibility and it’s what it does well – at a cost that’s risen in line with inflation for at least half a decade.
“No year is the same, and already 2014 has been like no other. The reawakening of mortgage lending startled the property market into a new spring of life earlier in the year. The benefits have been felt across the board, not just for first-time buyers but for tenants too. Investment means rents are now only 1% higher in real terms than at the start of 2010.
“Scotland’s date with destiny will be on people’s minds today. But amidst the national soul-searching in the wake of the vote, politicians on both sides of the border will now be returning to the more mundane and practical questions of making the best policy decisions. In the housing market, this means a debate about tenant fees.
“Banning tenant fees in Scotland pushed up rents by £312 per year – or multiple times what a tenant would have paid at the start of a tenancy. Across every corner of Britain this should serve as a lesson in fully thought through policy making.”
