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UK rental costs have increased by the fastest rate since 2015, while house prices have seen a small decline, official figures released on Wednesday revealed.
The average UK rent increased by 9 per cent in the 12 months to February, up from 8.5 per cent in January, the Office for National Statistics said (ONS)
It is the highest annual percentage change since the UK data series began in January 2015. Private rent inflation was highest in London, at 10.6 per cent, and the lowest in the North East at 5.7 per cent
However, average house prices decreased by 0.6 per cent in the 12 months to January 2024. In England they decreased by 1.5 per cent as they also did in Wales by 0.8 per cent, but increased in Scotland by 4.8 per cent.
ONS deputy director for prices, Matt Corder, said: “Brent saw the highest annual rental growth of all local areas and Melton saw the lowest, while rental prices were highest in Kensington & Chelsea and lowest in Dumfries & Galloway.
“Average UK house prices continued to fall, albeit at a slower annual rate than seen recently.
“Indeed, Scotland’s average house prices rose at their fastest annual rate for more than a year.”
The high rent increase of 9 per cent is significantly above the 3.4 per inflation rate and indicates that tenants are still being hit with enormous cost increases.
Jonathan Gordon, director of wealth management at IP Global, said rental conditions in the UK were “brutal” for tenants at the moment.
He said: “Landlords are facing rising costs, which in turn has led to rent increases for tenants. This creates an extremely difficult situation for renters in the UK, as wages are often not keeping pace with rent hikes.
“While house prices have seen a slight dip, the consistently high demand for housing suggests significant price drops are unlikely.”
This is a breaking news story…more to come